After serving as a U.S. Army second lieutenant during the Korean War, he returned to Utah and married Paula Ann Deline.
Mortimer's first involvement with the Deseret News began at age 12 when he started as a carrier delivering the paper.
His career in printing and publishing started with the Deseret News in 1957 when he accepted a position as a reporter, then later became Assistant Business Editor.
He then became Sales Manager at the Deseret News Press, then Senior Account Executive for Wheelwright Lithographing Company.
Mortimer was responsible for supervising the typesetting, printing and binding of the (then) new Latter-day Saint Edition of the King James version of the Bible and the new triple combination.