April 27, 1946 ~ December 16, 2022 (age 76)
Obituary
Mary Joan was born in the Barelas Neighborhood of Albuquerque, on April 27, 1946, to Robert Benham, Sr., and Florence (Shanks) Benham, and she passed on Friday, December 16, 2022. She is survived by husband, Thomas C. Windes; son, Brandon Todd and his daughters, Keara and Elizabeth; and son, Connor Lee Windes, wife, Allison, and their children, Madelaine and Cameron; her brother, Robert Benham, Jr., wife, Susan and children, Jill and her husband, Hans and children Kenzie, Liam, and Joey; and Alan and his wife, Beth, and children, Will and Alli; and her sister, Nancy (Benham) Cooper (deceased) and her daughters, Kelley, Kim and Kit (deceased); her sister-in-law, Tracey Windes; and cousins, Ann (Windes) Riveria and her, husband, Sam and their children; Lisa Windes; and Mary Beth (Shanks) Thorn, Steven Shanks, and Janice (Shanks) Ferrell and their respective husbands and children.
Mary Joan lived almost all of her life in Albuquerque and has always cared very much about others, and was a dedicated worker, mother, teacher, entrepreneur, and a wonderful wife. She attended Montezuma and Monte Vista Elementaries, Jefferson Junior High, and Highland High School, graduating in 1964. She graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1968 with a teachers' degree and later obtained a UNM Master's degree in teaching. Mary Jo taught for 15 years with the Albuquerque Public Schools; later started Huggy Buggy Toys woodworking business at home, making furniture, cabinets, children's toys, etc., and then returned to teaching in 1988. She resigned in 1999 and opened a jewelry bead store (Bead Obsession) on Central Ave. and later on SE San Mateo, where classes were also taught, specializing in delica beads. Her store was enjoyed by many diverse wonderful customers, including Native American beaders.
She was a life-long member and participant at First United Methodist Church. For over three decades, she and Tom worked with the youth groups, with Family Promise--for families in need--and feeding the homeless on Sundays for the Community of Hope.
Mary Jo started as a trainee teacher under Principal Sheldon McGuire. She was fortunate to have started her first job in 1972-73 at new Apache Elementary School, under an extraordinary principal, Harold Forrester, and then within the new Open Classroom-style of teaching at Apache. Several team teachers rotated their students in a huge classroom, allowing students to learn from a number of different personalities and subjects, as they would later experience in junior and senior high school. She later team-taught at Monte Vista Elementary and at Washington Middle School downtown and at Cleveland Middle school in the NE Heights. She was the first program manager for a new after-school program for kids and their parents at Zia Elementary, known as the Family Focus Center, which continues to this day.
She met her husband, Thomas, at the Wesley Foundation on the UNM campus in 1965, while he was attending graduate school. In July 1968, Mary Jo married Tom in Aschaffenburg, Germany, after which the couple was paraded around town in an atomic missile-launcher truck by Tom's army unit. The couple honeymooned in Garmish and Salzburg in the beautiful Bavarian Alps. The couple were happily married for 54 years and traveled throughout the US and Europe.
Her children were a source of great pride. The oldest, Brandon Todd serves in the US Army, mainly in Special Forces, reaching the rank of First Sergeant. Connor Lee works in the space exploration division for Lockheed, attending to mechanical engineering components on the various space missions. Mary Jo will be sorely missed by many.
A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, April 15, 2023, 10:30 a.m., at First United Methodist Church, 315 Coal Ave. SW.
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