Lily Caithlyn Marquez

Funeral services for Lily Marquez, 15, of Portales, will be held at 2:00 PM, Sat. June 14, 2025 at Legacy Church in Portales with Pastor Abnner Ortiz officiating.  Burial will follow in the Portales Cemetery with Samuel Marquez, Leon Marquez, Andrew Stubbs, Julian Valadez, Orlando Marquez, Ricardo Marquez and Rudy Gonzalez serving as pallbearers.  All of her fellow NMMI Cadets will serve as honorary pallbearers.  The family requests that attendees bring a flower of whatever sort to place in Lily’s casket, as she loved to draw flowers. Trinkets or memories are welcome as well. They also request that you dress in your favorite, flashiest event attire and not in black. 

Lily Caitlyn Marquez was born Oct. 26, 2009 in Clovis to Sarah Marie (Ray) and Leon Valadez Marquez, and passed from this life on Thurs., June 5, 2025 in Portales.  Lily had attended Portales Public Schools until this past fall when she enrolled in New Mexico Military Institute as a High School Freshman.

Lily was an amazing artist, and loved to draw various subject matters, but especially flowers.  Her favorite subject in school was math.  She had just completed Algebra II, and was looking forward to more advanced courses in Pre-Calculus and Trigonometry.  Lily was competing in track, and was on the cheer squad at NMMI. In addition, she played the saxophone in band.

Lily loved her family, and adored babies.  Getting to hold a baby was one of her great joys.  Only the night before her death she worked in the nursery at Legacy Church taking care of babies.  She also had a soft heart for her rescue cat, Fluffy.  When she found Fluffy, he was a tiny, blind kitten in distress in the middle of the road, but she nursed him to health, and now he is a full-grown cat that loved her as much as she loved him.

Lily also loved listening to music of literally all types from the newest to oldie classics.  She was fun loving, and always making people laugh, cracking jokes and making wise cracks. She believed in protecting others and never hesitated to be a fierce friend.

She is survived by her mother and step-father, Sarah and Andrew Stubbs, her father, Leon Marquez and a brother, Samuel Marquez all of whom live in Portales; as well as numerous other family members and her many friends.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Lily Caithlyn Marquez, please visit our floral store.