Sophia Alani Rodriguez

Sophia Alani Rodriguez was a 9-year-old girl who was born in Merced, California on September 12, 2015. She passed away peacefully on October 6, 2024 due to her chronic lung condition, as a result of being diagnosed with Potter’s Syndrome. She lived at Totally Kids Specialty Healthcare, where she was known as the Queen of the facility. Despite her condition, she always maintained a positive outlook on life, had a bubbly yet sassy personality, and never let her condition bring her down.

Sophia loved to role play that she was a nurse, specifically a charge nurse. She would pretend page employees, tell her roommates what to do, and wrap everyone’s hand with tape. Her role playing extended to being a Spy Ninja named Vy Qwaint (PZ700), which she picked up while watching YouTube videos. Despite never having seen the show, she also dressed up as Wednesday Adams with a black dress, two braided pigtails with bangs, and no smile. On the opposite end she associated herself with the Disney character from Encanto, Isabella. She sang her songs, put on her dress, and would ensure that you knew that she was in fact the real Isabella.

Sophia loved to eat chicken nuggets and fries with buffalo sauce (mainly Happy Meals) with her soda that she called “sodi”. Her other favorite food was pepperoni pizza (Dominoes). Her favorite soda was Dr. Pepper (the first soda she ever tried), followed by Sprite, and Pepsi. She had a macaroni and cheese phase for years and always hated bread. Her favorite chips were blue Takis and any kind of spicy chips for that matter. Her favorite candies were skittles, gummy bears, and recently nerds gummy clusters. Sophia did not particularly like candy until she was around 8 years old. She also loved to drink water more than anything followed by grape juice. She hated most vegetables which she referred to as “leaves”, even if it wasn’t related to lettuce. Her favorite vegetable was cucumber and she loved eating lemons by themselves. Her favorite fruits were avocados, strawberries, and raspberries. She would have hot sauce with every meal (Cholula or Tapatio).

Sophia expressed that she never liked animals, except for frogs and butterflies. Frogs because of her YouTube videos and butterflies because of Encanto, her favorite movie. Her favorite color was purple, followed by black, and grew not to like the color pink. She said that pink made her “sick”. She always wanted to know what color you were wearing and would give her opinion on what she thought you should wear the next day.

Sophia will always be remembered as the most kind-hearted, intelligent, and spicy little girl with the most gentle soul. She always loved to pray and would remind her visitors to do so before leaving her bedside at the hospital. The love and memories she gave to all of us will live in our hearts forever. Rest in peace to our little angel, until we meet again.

A visitation for Sophia will be held Sunday, October 20, 2024 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM at Stratford Evans Merced Funeral Home, 1490 B Street, Merced, CA 95341. A celebration of life will occur Sunday, October 20, 2024 at 12:00 PM. A graveside service will follow at 1:00 PM at Merced District Cemetery, 1300 B St, Merced, CA 95341.