Leslie Anne (Castle) Mason

Leslie was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 6, 1936 and died in Albuquerque, New Mexico on March 14, 2022. Growing up, Leslie spent time in Illinois, Wisconsin, New York, and Texas. She graduated from high school in El Paso Texas, attended the University of the Americas in Mexico City and as an adult lived in Texas, Mexico and New Mexico. Though she lived in a number of places, her heart belonged to Santa Fe and the family's Leaping Powder Ranch, long the home of her aunt and uncle, Jane Werder Lloyd Droege and Joseph L. Droege. She worked as an administrative assistant for Lively Equipment Company and W.C. Kruger in Albuquerque.

Leslie was the daughter of Ormal William Castle and Elizabeth Anne Werder Castle Boone  ("Betty Boone"). She was preceded in death by her brother James Werder Castle, her cherished son James Stewart Mason, and her beloved husband Daniel Dean Benaka. She is survived by her half-siblings Dorothy Hastings Castle SanGeorge and Paul Jeffery Castle, and by nephews Jeff, Scott, and Warren and their families.

Many years ago Leslie wrote her own obituary. It was short on autobiographical information and full of appreciation for all the individuals and families she had loved so dearly and who had loved her. It included the families of Dorothy and Joe SanGeorge, Rob and Mary Lee, Bob and Evalyn Garner, Gary and Sherrell Schwartzman, Nick and E.J. Evangelos, Edie Lopez Lusk, Sue Armstrong, Jeff and Carolyn Dobbs and Joan and Bill Foote. Individuals included Jo Antreasian, Bernadette Garcia, Chet ?, Mark Lane, and a few names we couldn't decipher.

The obituary Les wrote for herself summarized her life as follows: "She was a published poetess and worked for the Laubach Literacy Foundation in Mexico in the late 1950's. She was a founding member of D.M.D.A. of Albuquerque and taught handicapped and diabetic children to swim wherever she lived. She was also an avid supporter of the Christian Medical Center of Guatemala and she participated in the American civil rights movement under Dr Martin Luther King, Jr."

Leslie adored children. She blessed her nephews in Buffalo, New York with complete and unconditional love interspersed with fun, expressed and felt even over the distance of more than 1000 miles. Locally, she felt fortunate to have two generations of Lee children to indulge and to love and be loved by. Robbie, Chris, Michael and Michael's wife Jody and their children Cassidy and M.J. were dear to her heart.

Leslie enjoyed reading, listening to a wide variety of music, sending greeting cards, the ocean, Asian art, the color purple, scarves, angel figurines, frogs, peppermints and lemon drops (sugar free, of course!). She was a good storyteller.

….most of all, Leslie wanted to be remembered as JIM'S MOM.

A Memorial Service will be held at Church of the Incarnation in Rio Rancho, New Mexico on Saturday, March 26, 2021, 11:00 a.m.