Mariah Marie Mitchell, also known as "Sugar Babe" and "Sunshine," went to heaven on April 28, 2026, at home in her sleep at the age of 27. She was born on July 7, 1998, in Oklahoma City at Deaconess Hospital to Justin Ryan Mitchell and Vanessa Dawn Conaway.

Mariah was preceded in death by her "Papa Chief" Robert David Lutz; grandparents, Dee and Gerald Mitchell and Anna Mitchell; Great-grandma and Grandpa Schultz; Great-grandma and Grandpa Lutz; Great-grandma, Peggy Roberts; and Grandma Dessie Miller (that's what we called her).

She is survived by her Momma, Vanessa Conaway Mitchell (Jack); her Nana, Alicia Lutz; brother, Justin Mitchell, sister, Ava Mitchell; brother, Austin Mitchell; aunt, Joanna Lutz Hatfield; cousin, Tyler Hatfield (Tara) and children, Dani Ann Marie, Talon Mason Hatfield and Bennett Jack Hatfield; cousins, Adam Hatfield (Mariya) and Brooklyn Hatfield; uncle, David E. Lutz; cousins, Anestasia Lutz, Elijah Lutz and Sebastian Lutz; uncle, Brian Ledbetter (Ché); and cousin, Juliet Ledbetter.

Mariah was born 3 months prematurely at 2 lbs. 5 oz., 13 inches long. She was a normal baby, coming out screaming and moving all over the place as if to say, "Why did you take me from my warm comfortable place?"

She was taken to the NICU at Mercy Hospital where she stayed for 101 days. While there, her Nana recorded Psalms 91 on a continual feed recorder and the nurses played it constantly so Mariah heard it the whole time she was in the NICU. She developed bleeds in her brain. A miracle happened, and in one week the bleeds disappeared. Nana asked the Lord to please let the technician be walking in when she was and when she got to the hospital, the technician was walking into Mariah's room right in front of Nana. After getting the machine ready to scan her brain, he said, "I don't see these bleeds they're talking about. They're not here." Nana said, "Praise God, God answers prayer." After a few more trials she got to come home.

When Mariah was little, she was always trying to talk. We worked hard with her to reach forward and crawl and Mariah would give it her best shot.

We were blessed to learn about Special Care. They loved Mariah and one of her physical therapists, Suzanne, was persistent about getting her to walk on the Lite-Gate to no avail. However, she did manage to teach her how to communicate by saying "yes" and "no." Boy, could she communicate after that!!

Mariah was also a big HAM. When she was 2 years old, Nana took her grocery shopping and put her in the child seat in the basket. An elderly lady came up to her to say hello to Mariah. She had a big smile on her face and the woman then said to her, "You're a little ham, aren't you?" Mariah laughed and Nana told the woman that she tells her that all the time.

She would not let anyone talk like they were upset in her presence. She would immediately begin to advocate for both people in the disagreement by raring back in her chair as if to say, "STOP IT RIGHT NOW!!!"

Mariah was eager to learn about everything. She was the "Star of the Show" in every class that she was in from 1st grade to 12th grade. She attended Lake Park Elementary, then Western Oaks Middle School. When she graduated from Putnam City West High School in 2019, she was so excited to be an adult.

Mariah absolutely loved her family, especially her Momma and her fiancé, Jack, and Nana and Papa. She and Nana enjoyed watching Shirley Temple movies together, and "Heidi" was her favorite. Another special activity they enjoyed was when Nana would take her to ride horses at the Coffee Creek Riding Center.

She loved her best friends, "Duke" and Lisha A LOT. Mariah gave Duke the name "Duka" because it was easier for her to say. She would spend a couple of hours each week with Duke and Lisha at their house. Duke would take her outside to look at his vegetable plants, or they would watch HGTV together, especially enjoying the home improvement shows, and he would take her for walks.

Mariah's Momma would take Mariah, Duke, and Lisha shopping whenever they wanted to go and they would plan for it, usually on a Wednesday or Thursday. If you mentioned Duke at all, Mariah would get a huge smile on her face. She would start to blush with her arms stretched out straight in front of her because she really loved Duka and Lisha.

Every night before Mariah went to bed, Duke would call her and talk with her for a couple of hours. Duke is a special big brother and he and Lisha have become part of the family.

Jack West had the honor and privilege of being called Mariah's Daddy - "Daddy Jack" to be exact. The two of them were very close because Mariah loved learning and Jack loved teaching her. They would do simple projects like building bird houses and other small projects all the way to big home projects like helping Jack build shelving for her mama to have some organization. We all put together a composting barrel so we could learn about creating our own compost and many other home improvements, but her favorite thing to do with her Daddy Jack and Momma was working in the yard planting flowers together as a family. She genuinely LOVED to see life grow. She absolutely was in love with life and everyone in it.

I think Mariah considered almost everyone as her best friend. One special best friend was Karly. They had known each other since they were little girls and did everything together. Mariah "told" Karly her deepest secrets. As best friends often do, they had their own special way of communicating.

Mariah enjoyed eating out with Nana and Toni at Golden Corral. She just loved being with people. (But especially Nana, her favorite person to be with!)

Nana would often tease Mariah about who her favorite person was, whether it was her or Cindy. Because she told Nana that Cindy was her "favorite" person, when Nana would see her at Bible study, she would say your OTHER favorite person is here and then Mariah would crack up laughing.

Mariah loved everyone, but especially her Troy. She would light up everytime Troy would call or say he was going to come visit. She loved her visits with Troy who is like a surrogate Dad figure. I think they were connected the first time they met, probably 15 years ago. Mariah was Troy's "Angel Face" and "Sugar Bear." He would never fail at making sure that she was showered with gifts on her birthday, Christmas, Valentine's Day, etc. Troy became close to our family because of Mariah.

She was a socialite and she enjoyed going to the prom in high school. Her first prom was exclusively reserved for Papa because he didn't attend his high school prom. He made it clear that he was going to take Mariah to her first prom because it was the first prom for both of them.

In 2015, Tim Tebow started the Night to Shine, which is a prom for adults with special needs. Mariah got to go to the first one and ever since she has gone with her best man, Thomas Parsons, who always put on the dog (dressed to the nines) and matched the color in Mariah's dress. So, when she had picked out a dress, her Momma would take a picture of it and send it to Thomas so he could coordinate his attire to hers. He felt that it was very important to look special for Mariah because he's a classy guy and great friend.

Mariah loved to give, no matter what. She always wanted money to give and tithe, because Nana and Papa taught her to do that. She loved Jesus and worship.

Many times, she would look at her Momma or Nana and let them know that she wanted to get someone a gift. She always wanted to buy things for Duke and Lisha or give whatever someone wanted or desired. She would look at Nana or "call" Nana to let her know that she needed money so she could go shopping. Then Nana would give her money, and Papa would match the same amount so she had twice the amount she asked for.

She was so intelligent and comprehended everything that was spoken to her and others.

Nana and Papa told Mariah that she was their little "Supervisor" because she was there for every conversation and every job from cleaning house (she would help dust the secretary for Nana) to working in the garden, helping Papa work on the cars or helping Jack build birdhouses. She wanted to be in the middle of everything.

Everywhere Mariah went, she made a friend. She knew people that Momma, Nana and Papa didn't. When we would go out to eat, and a stranger (to us) would walk up to her and say, "Hey, Mariah!", she would get SO excited that she would jump with enthusiasm because they saw her and came to say "hello." Then she would smile from ear to ear and straighten out her arms with just this sense of acceptance. Her body language always told us how she was feeling.

Mariah was one of a kind and an absolute joy.

On the morning that she left earth when Jack, Momma and Nana were at the hospital, Nana leaned over to Mariah's Momma and said, "I can see Jesus leaning over to her Papa saying, "Mariah's coming and you need to go to the gate."

That evening Nana called one of her best friends of 40 years and when she answered she asked how we'd been doing. She said that she and a friend of hers had been praying for us and that Jesus said to her plainly, "Mariah is running into Papa's arms, then showed her Papa meeting her in heaven, wrapping his arms around her, welcoming her into heaven and holding her tight."

But this is not the end of the story, because Mariah loved Jesus so much. At Bible study when we worshipped before the teaching, she would throw up her arms, open her mouth and worship excitedly. Now she lives with Him and all the friends and family who've gone before.

Mariah is alive and well in heaven. The earth is not our home; it is only temporary. She will live for eternity with Jesus and all the people she loves the most.

Viewing at Mercer-Adams is Friday, 1-8pm, with family present from 5-7pm. A service to celebrate Mariah's life will be held on Saturday, May 9, 2:00pm, at Victory Church, 4300 N. MacArthur Blvd. in Oklahoma City.