Prominent Cuban entrepreneur José Antonio Ortega Bonet, founder of Sazón Goya Food Company, died yesterday morning at his Coral Gables residence at age 79. The cause of death was cancer.

``He died just as he lived, surrounded by his family, in peace with God, with himself and with his friends,'' said his youngest son, José Antonio Ortega Jr.

``Pepe'' Ortega, known to his friends as ``El Gallego,'' was born in Havana on Oct. 27, 1929. He went to primary school at Belen Jesuit School in the Cuban capital and obtained a Business Science degree from the University of Havana.

After his father died, he started working at a very young age for F. Bonet y Cía, a food distribution business. But he soon used his natural entrepreneurial talent to launch his own business.

``Though he was very young, he had a lot of creativity for business,'' his son José Antonio said. ``He founded the first automobile air-conditioning business in Cuba and soon had a broad clientele.''

In April 1954 he married Lucila Galvis Gómez-Plata, a Colombian woman studying in Havana. They had two children, María Elena and José Antonio.

``Pepe'' Ortega left Cuba with his wife and children in 1960. After a brief stay in Colombia, he moved to Puerto Rico in 1963, where he started a successful career in the food business that eventually became Sazón Goya, in partnership with the Unanue family, owners of Goya Foods.

In 1976, ``Pepe'' Ortega moved with his family to Miami, where he continued leading his company into new goals of sales and growth until his death. The Sazón Goya products are used mostly at Hispanic homes in the United States and Puerto Rico.

``My father remained involved in the company until his last days,'' said his daughter, María Elena Ortega de Wollberg.

He was an affectionate father and shared travels with his children, in whom he instilled values of hard work and honesty.

``He leaves behind an enormous legacy of love, effort, integrity and generosity,'' his son said.

``Pepe'' Ortega was a committed person and an anonymous philanthropist. Among his major beneficiaries are the Centro Mater Foundation, the League Against Cancer, Mercy Hospital and the José Martí scholarships.

``To us he was a guardian angel throughout the history of this cause,'' said Miriam Román, executive director of Centro Mater. ``He not only helped us with funding but also with guidance and advice.''

He had an excellent sense of humor, and was always laughing. He will be remembered by all those who knew him for his intellectual wit, simple manners, friendliness and generosity, say friends.

A Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at the Epiphany Parrish on Southwest 57th Avenue and 84th Street, and he will be buried at Woodlawn Park North Cemetery on Southwest Eighth Street 33rd Avenue.