Services were held Tuesday at the Hotel Albuquerque Chapel for Judge Diane Albert, who was killed by her husband in a murder-suicide the day after Thanksgiving, according to KRQE News.
Albert was remembered as someone who constantly gave back to New Mexico, including helping young women become leaders.
She was loved by many, including New Mexico Auditor Brian Colón, who was a long-time friend.
“Diane Albert, she was a source of joy and inspiration to countless New Mexicans,” Brian Colón told KRQE News. “She was really an incredible leader who brought that infectious personality and her quirkiness into everything that she did.”
Albert’s tenure of service in New Mexico began in 1993 when she worked as an engineer at Los Alamos Lab until 2004. She also worked as an educator at Los Alamos, University of New Mexico campus, in the materials science technology program. She served as a Los Alamos County councilor from 2001 to 2004.
Albert decided she wanted a new challenge and entered law school, finishing in 2007. On her website, she encouraged colleagues to “take on cases pro bono for those who could not afford an attorney."
“It wasn’t about chasing the dollar,” Colon said, according to KRQE News. “It wasn’t about building bigger for herself. It was about building others for the community.”
In 2021, Albert was elected the municipal court judge for the village of Los Ranchos. According to Colon, Albert had a passion for cycling.
“I can think of many times when she walked in the front door of my home with her bicycle helmet on and her clip-in shoes, clacking through my tile,” Colon told KRQE News.
Albert was also a dedicated mentor for young women.
“She was always involved in organizations that built up women and increase the quality of women’s voice and standing in New Mexico and in the nation,” Colon said, according to KRQE News. “I know her legacy will impact generations to come, whether it’s the young girls that she inspired, with her words of kindness and her guidance, or whether it was just the fact that she was a wonderfully strong, intellectual, smart, driven woman on the bench.”