OBITUARY: Charles E. Mandeville

Charles E. Mandeville, IV was born in Pennsylvania and spent time growing up in Alabama and Kansas while his father, Dr. Charles E. Mandeville, III and mother, Vera Pearl (Kiki) Storey, moved the family around the country for professorships and other work. Job-related travel and family vacations often brought the Mandevilles to and through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Charles, IV moved to Socorro around age 17 to attend college at NMIMT where he met several life-long friends and obtained a Petroleum Engineering degree in 1969.

He married, had 2 children, moved to Texas and began working as a Petroleum Engineer for TEXACO. Several years later, he moved back to Socorro with his family and continued with TEXACO, but now as owner of the South Socorro TEXACO service & gasoline station in the mid-1970s.

With financial assistance from his parents and a coin collection built over several decades as collateral, Charles was able to secure a loan to purchase the abandoned Val Verde Hotel in 1977. He worked tirelessly, along with many others, to rehabilitate the Val Verde into a thriving business, with a grand reopening in 1985. Unbeknownst to many Charles, in fact, still owns the Val Verde today.

Charles pursued many hobbies and interests including but not limited to camping, the Vigilante Band, counter-culture music, cassette tape collecting, the Mugwumps softball team, and many more. Later in life, he took up metal detecting, artifact hunting, rediscovered coin collecting, antique arms collecting, New Mexico history (including Civil War history in New Mexico), and Civil War re-enacting, including the famed Battles for Socorro, re-enacting the Battle of Valverde and Capture of Socorro for several years in February. For Charles (and many others), the Confederate States of America (CSA or Confederacy) established in the era of the US Civil War was NOT about defending “racism” or “slavery” as is taught, but rather opposition to the problems inherent with centralization of power in Washington, D.C. Charles really refused to accept that “the winners of wars get to write the history books” and shape the minds of all future youth, so he spent his life (especially the last third to half of it) on an educational mission to balance the teachings regarding various true causes of the U.S. Civil War or The War Between the States.

For the last six years of his life while caring for him in Albuquerque, Charles simply wanted to “go back to Socorro”. Today we grant his wish and we sincerely hope he’s able to finally rest in peace with his fellow confederate ‘veterans’ in this small town which he loved so much and which defined and shaped his existence and life since age 17. We love you Dad. Hope to see you again someday.

Charles is survived by one son (Cinco), two daughters (Debby & Lizi), one sister (Jill), eleven grandchildren (Charlie, Zachary, Johnathan, Allison, Lia, Gavin, Tanner, Isabelle, Lily, Ezra, & Kai), and 2 beloved cats (Piggy & Dreyfus)

A graveside service was held at Socorro Cemetery – Sons of Confederates on Tuesday, June 24th at 11am.

To send flowers in memory of Charles E. Mandeville to his family contact Pretty Petals Boutique