SAMANTHA CORTES

ON SEPTEMBER 13, 2024, SAMANTHA CORTES, 58, OF LAS VEGAS, NEVADA PASSED AWAY IN HER HOME OF A HEART ATTACK. SHE WAS BORN JUNE 10, 1966 TO JEAN LEE OGILVIE AND CHARLES G MAHAKIAN IN SAN FRANCISCO, CA. SAMANTHA ATTENDED SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY FOR HER BACHELOR OF ARTS DEGREE, AND OBTAINED HER TEACHING CREDENTIALS AT SACRAMENTO STATE UNIVERSITY. SHE MET HER HUSBAND BULMARO CORTES DURING HER TIME WORKING AT A BOOKBINDING COMPANY, AND THEY WERE MARRIED ON JUNE 22ND, 1996. THEIR DAUGHTER, MELEASE CORTES, WOULD BE BORN IN NOVEMBER OF THAT SAME YEAR. HER FIRST SON GIDEON WOULD BE BORN IN 2000. WITH HER NEW FAMILY, SAMANTHA MOVED TO LAS VEGAS IN 2001, WHERE SHE WOULD HAVE HER YOUNGEST SON ARCHER.

SHE TAUGHT FOR 24 YEARS AT JD SMITH MIDDLE SCHOOL, WHERE SHE TAUGHT ELA, MATH AND SCIENCE. SAMANTHA WAS NOT ONLY A BELOVED MEMBER OF THE TEACHING COMMUNITY, SHE WAS ALSO A PASSIONATE LOVER OF K-POP MUSIC, K-DRAMAS, STAR WARS, HELLO KITTY, PEEWEE HERMAN, ALICE IN WONDERLAND, NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS AND ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING DISNEY. HER PASSION IS REFLECTED IN HER IMPRESSIVE DISPLAYS OF MEMORABILIA AND COLLECTIONS OF STICKERS. SHE OFTEN ATTENDED LOCAL VENDOR EVENTS WITH HER DAUGHTER, WHERE SHE ENTHUSIASTICALLY SUPPORTED THE ARTISTS PRESENTING THEIR WORKS. THOSE WHO KNEW SAMANTHA WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HER CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE COMMUNITY AS A MENTOR AND FRIEND TO ALL.

SHE IS SURVIVED BY HER HUSBAND BULMARO, HER CHILDREN MELEASE, GIDEON AND ARCHER, HER SISTER, ALPHA NASH, AND HER FIVE BROTHERS: RUSTY, FRED, CHUCK, CHARLES AND GABRIEL MAHAKIAN, AND HER PARENTS, CHUCK MAHAKIAN AND JEAN LEE OGILVIE.