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Mabel Eieleen Swaminathan Charles, age 82, resident of Rio Communities, Belen, since September 1980, died April 11, 2005 at home. She is survived by her husband, Stepney Cortez Kibble; a son, Kumar Cortez Kibble, his wife, Laura, and their children, Savana, Samantha, and Christian, of Rancho Santa Margarita, CA; and sisters, Lynette and Edith of Nagercoil, India; and several cousins, nieces, and nephews in India. She was predeceased by her parents Rev. Charles and Jeyamony Swaminathan. Mabel was born in Nagercoil, India, on January 24, 1923. She spent the early years of her life in Singapore and Malaysia where her father was in charge of schools established by the Anglican Diocese of Singapore and Malaysia for the education of children from Indian immigrant families in those territories. After the occupation of Singapore and Malaysia by Japanese military forces in February 1942, Mabel, along with her family, underwent the hardships and rigors of the Japanese occupation. After the Allied Forces victory in Singapore and Malaysia in 1945, Mabel, her mother and sisters returned to Madras, India. Subsequently, she became a member of the local staff of the U.S. Consulate General in Madras. In November 1954, her husband, Cortez, a U.S. State Department foreign service officer was sent to Madras on his first Foreign Service assignment. On May 5, 1956, Mabel and Cortez were married. Upon completion of the Madras assignment, Mabel accompanied Cortez to the U.S. and became a U.S. citizen. She then accompanied her husband on assignments to Iraq, Pakistan, Washington, D.C., Argentina, Liberia, Guyana, and Surinam. During her husband's Washington assignments, she studied theater at Howard University, earned a B.A. in History at D.C. Teachers College and participated in a National Security Seminar at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. As a young woman in Singapore, Mabel studied piano and received a diploma in piano studies from Trinity College of Music, London. Upon retirement with her husband to Rio Communities in Belen, Mabel became a piano teacher and gave piano lessons to many young people and adults in Valencia County in the course of her nearly 25 years of residence. She was a member of the Albuquerque chapter of the American Guild of Organists, Church Women United of Albuquerque, Daughters of the King, Society of Mary, Alkalai Anns Garden Club, and American Association of University Women. A Memorial Service will be held at the Cathedral Church of St. John, 3rd & Silver SW, Albuquerque, NM at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, April 15, 2005. In lieu of flowers, please make donations in memory of Mabel to the American Diabetes Association, or Outreach Program, The Cathedral Church of Saint John, 318 Silver Avenue SW, P.O. Box 1246, Albuquerque, NM 87103. Arrangements by Romero Funeral Home, 609 N. Main St. Belen
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