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LENHOFF, RITA DOLORES Age 91, a longtime resident of Albuquerque and Rio Rancho gave in to the gentle increasing tugs on her heart by her Creator and joined him on March 27, 2013. Rita was born on November 17, 1921 in the Albuquerque area, the eldest daughter of eight children born to Casimiro Baca (CB) Sanchez and Dolores Baca. Rita's father CB owned and operated the Dependable Food Market at 307 W. Coal Ave in Albuquerque for many years. Rita attended Sacred Heart Grade School and graduated from Albuquerque High School in 1940 when it was the only high school in town. She then completed secretarial school in Albuquerque, and because World War II was ongoing, she met the call of her nation to help the war effort working as a secretary at the War Production Board in Washington DC where a few of her brothers lived. At a dance studio Rita met, fell in love with, and later married Master Sergeant Raymond J. Lenhoff in Albuquerque at Sacred Heart Church in 1944, and they honeymooned at the La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe, NM. Her husband's duty with the Army Security Agency in Radio Intelligence took them to the Los Angeles area Reseda Army Station where her first son Joseph was born in 1944 in Van Nuys, CA, then back to Albuquerque where her second son Charles was born in 1946. After Charlie's birth she traveled with her two young sons, joining her husband in Asmara, Eritrea, Africa. From there she returned to have her first daughter Cecelia in 1948 at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, DC. Later assignments took Ray and Rita to, Carlisle, Pennsylvania where in 1949 she had her second girl, Teresa, who later in 1966 was to die tragically in a freak accident at a car wash in Albuquerque at the tender age of 16. Other assignments were in Ayer, MA and Warrenton, VA. In 1954 her husband Ray suffered a major heart attack while on duty in Madrid, Spain and was disabled retired and discharged from the Army and they settled for good in Albuquerque. In 1960 and 1961 Rita started her "second family" where her sons Raymond and James were born in Albuquerque. Rita is survived by her five remaining children, Joseph, Charles, Cecilia, Raymond and James and their children: Kurt and Erika; Scott, Evan and Todd; Patrick (adopted); Aaron, Sarah and Adam; and Joseph and Daniel, respectively. She has four great grandchildren by Kurt (Skyler and Ashley) and Erika (Hannah and Noah). Rita's husband Ray died in 1971, and Rita lived independently in her own home until just before her death. Rita's brothers, Ben; Arthur; Hilary; and Charlie; and one sister Lucy; are deceased, but she is survived by her sister Angeline Sanchez of Albuquerque; and Josephine Trujillo of Seal Beach, CA. She also has a number of cousins and relatives still living in the Albuquerque area, and a surviving aunt, Helen Ogaz of Mountain View, CA. Rita will be remembered at a viewing at the new French Funeral facility at 1950 Pine Ave NE in Rio Rancho near Rita's home from 5:00 to 7:00 PM with a rosary at 6:00 on Tuesday April 2, 2013. Rita's Celebration Mass will be at 10:30 on Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, 1502 Sara Road SE, Rio Rancho, NM 87124. Internment services will take place later on Wednesday at the Santa Fe National Cemetery, 501 North Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe NM at 3:00 PM. Please plan to arrive by 2:45 PM. Please join Rita's family in their celebration of her long life, her love for others, and her joy to be with Jesus whom she loved so very much, and is now with in Heaven. FRENCH-Rio Rancho 1950 Pine Road NE Rio Rancho, NM 87144 (505) 338-2000
        Published on: Sun March 31, 2013