Community to honor Sid Ortis tonight

The community will hold a memorial service for Sid Ortis Monday night at 9 p.m. on the Mountain Brook High School football field. Sid passed away Saturday, Oct. 31 following a 14-month battle with osteosarcoma. 

The event is being organized by several churches in the community, according to Canterbury 

United Methodist's Director of Student Ministries, Stephen Ingram. Attendees are asked to bring a candle to light in honor of the teen, but the churches will also bring candles to share. The event will seek to celebrate Sid’s life and his family’s resolve.

“They taught us a new way to see death and some really beautiful things came of it,” Ingram said.

Organizers will roll out butcher paper and provide markers for attendees to write letters to the Ortis family. Songs and prayers are also expected to be part of the memorial. 

"We believe that [the letters] could be something important to them [the Ortis family]," Ingram said.

At the end of the night, attendees will be encouraged to write prayers or letters to Sid on pieces of paper and attach them to purple and yellow balloons. Those balloons will then be released.

Village Living extends its sincere condolences to the Ortis family and friends.