Families Laud Nanny Who Died

Every weekday, Olimpia Sastre Ordones took the bus from her apartment in Santa Ana to Laguna Beach, where, over the past six years, the popular nanny worked for several families, cooking, cleaning and caring for their children.

Her family figured it was just a job, a way to pay the bills. But since Ordones, 27, was struck and killed Wednesday while crossing Coast Highway in a fierce rainstorm, they have come to realize that it was much more. She had become part of the Laguna Beach community.

The families Ordones worked for have set up a trust fund to help pay for a local funeral and the cost of shipping her body back to Mexico City for burial. They also hope to raise money for her children, ages 2 and 7.

“It’s really unbelievable,” said Ordones’ niece Cristina Zainos. “I never knew how much she meant [to] them. I thought she was just like any other person who did the cleaning.... We never thought they would be there for us all the way through this.”

The Laguna families have helped Ordones’ relatives with arrangements and even picked up Ordones’ children, who spent one night in the custody of Orangewood Children’s Home.

They have been to the hospital to check on Ordones’ sister, Yolanda Zainos, 36, who was also hit in the accident. Zainos remains hospitalized at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center, in Mission Viejo, with neck and head injuries. The two sisters were in a crosswalk when struck, and the driver of the SUV that hit them has not been cited.

And the Laguna families are planning their own private memorial for Ordones, along with a candlelight vigil Wednesday evening at the intersection where she died.

“She was like family to us,” said Laguna Beach resident Kari Nies, who hired Ordones six years ago to care for her two sons, now 9 and 6.

Even after her children started school, Nies said, the family kept Ordones employed for two days a week.

“We didn’t want to let her go because she was such a part of our lives,” Nies said. Every day, when Nies’ children got off the school bus, they would ask, “Is Olimpia going to be here today?”

When Ordones was looking for more work, Nies sent an e-mail to friends. The next day, Nies received three requests.

“The first interview snatched her up,” Nies said. “Good people are always in demand, and she was very, very good at what she did.”

Donations may be made out to the Olimpia Sastre Ordones Fund at any Bank of America branch. Checks made out to the fund also may be sent to the attention of Steve Schenk, 550 Mountain Road, Laguna Beach CA 92651.