The family of the deceased third-year Shepherd University student Grace Ortega announce that her funeral reception will take place at the Burke Presbyterian Church in Burke, Virginia on Nov. 22 at 1:00 p.m., according to a Friday morning campus-wide email sent by Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of Community Relations Holly Frye.
The family invites the Shepherd community to join them at the reception, according to Frye.
“This is a chance for Grace’s friends and family to gather as a community to celebrate her life and honor her memory,” said Frye in the email.
The Ortega Family requests the community to support a rescue shelter in Ortega’s memory, the Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation, a 501c3 not-for-profit organization in Arlington Virginia.
“Grace’s family is asking for memorial gifts to the Lost Dog Rescue Foundation, a cause dear to Grace’s heart, in lieu of flowers,” Frye said in the email.
Grace Ortega, a photography student at Shepherd, was found unresponsive in her Potomac Place dorm room on Nov. 8, with a campus-wide email sent out about her passing the following day.
She was “known for her sense of humor, creativity, and love of the arts. Her thought-provoking work found beauty in the things she loved, from travel and music to good food and movies,” Frye said.