Athena Marie Ortega

Athena Marie Ortega, affectionately known as "Sweetest Pea" by her family, left footprints on our hearts on Thursday, September 10, 2015, at her home in Heber, Navajo County, Arizona. She was 4 months and 3 days old. Athena was born on May 7, 2015, in Show Low, Arizona to her parents, Joseph Mikel Anthony Ortega and Faith Cary Baker. Athena Marie was a beautiful, happy baby girl who loved playing with her sisters and being cuddled by Mommy and Daddy. During her four short months here on earth, she touched many lives and was loved deeply by family and friends. Her life was a brief gift to us that will live on, as her organs were donated and received by others who were in need. "An Angel, in the book of life wrote down our baby's birth and whispered, as she closed the book, 'too beautiful for earth.'" This Sweetest Pea is survived by her parents, Faith Cary Baker and Joseph Mikel Anthony Ortega; 2 sisters: Faith Alexander "Alex" Baker of Lakeside, Arizona, Farrah Josephine Baker of Lakeside, Arizona; 2 brothers: Aiden Joseph Ortega of Show Low, Arizona, Jaden Thomas Tanner of Show Low, Arizona; 4 grandparents: Faith Marie Baker of Lakeside, Arizona, Mikel Anthony Ortega of Lakeside, Arizona, Christina Jeannette Paradis and Brian Christopher Paradis of San Diego, California; great-grandparents: Connie "Nana" Ortega of Mesa, Arizona, Jack Walters of Wellington, Alabama; 4 uncles: Antonio Lorenczo Manuel Ortega, Thomas Manuel Ortega, Nicholas Burr, Benjamin Burr; his aunt, Megan Nicole Mitchell and is also survived by numerous cousins and great-aunts and great-uncles. She was preceded in death by great-grandparents: Faith Josephine Baker, William Ralph Baker, Manuel "Tuffy" Ortega and Eurith "Babe" Johnson. A special memorial service for Athena will begin 10:00 A.M., Wednesday, September 23, 2015, at Owens Livingston Mortuary - White Mountain Chapel, 320 N. 9th Street in Show Low, Arizona.