Manuel Mancilla Castanon

Dear Family and Friends,

Most of you already know my heart and my life were torn apart when on June 13, 2021, Manuel’s heart stopped. He had been recovering from coronary bypass surgery and was working hard in rehab to get himself ready to come home. With the help of all our loved ones, we were preparing a room to make him comfortable, as he would continue his recovery at home.

We are a very proud Marine Corp family. Manuel and his three brothers all enlisted in the Marine Corp.

Surviving him is me, his wife of 55 years, his brothers Eulalio “Lee” Castanon (Angelica), Robert Castanon (Janie), His proud sisters, Mary Castanon, Dorothy Castanon and Rosalinda Castanon. Preceding him in death are his brother, Alfredo Castanon (Killed in Vietnam), his parents, Eulalio and Maria De Jesus Castanon, grandparents and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

These may be a few things you may not know about Manuel. He loved classical music, bird watching, photography and doing volunteer work. He was a volunteer deputy under Solomon Ortiz and Jim Kaelin and he became a permanent licensed peace officer for the state of Texas. He volunteered to help with the Special Olympics, various church events and helped people fill-out forms during diabetes screening. He also presented Driver Safety classes for AARP. He was a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus. Also, he was a founding member and Honorary Life member of Council #7290 of St. Peter’s Church in Annaville.

Manuel was born in central Texas in the town of Cameron on August 9, 1941. At the age of 5, his family moved to Corpus Christi. He once said, “I came here to find you.”

He would tell the story of how we met and told of the yellow dress I wore when we met. He was a junior and I was a sophomore at West Oso High School. We married on November 6, 1965 at Our Lady of Pilar Catholic Church. And so we will return there for his funeral mass, to the place we said our wedding vows including “till death do us part.”

He enlisted in the Marine Corp at the start of his senior year and went to boot camp at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California after graduation from high school in 1960.

After completing basic training, he returned to Corpus Christi and joined the Marine Corp Reserve at NAS-CC, TX. He expected to be called and sent to Vietnam but the call never came. He prepared and presented many classes to the reservist in his unit.

He worked at Corpus Christi Army Depot. He was accepted into an apprentice program and worked his way up to a journeyman. He became and Avionics Technician. His job took him to other countries like Turkey, Jordan and El Salvador to solve problems on helicopters which they obtained from the U.S. He loved the challenge his job presented and was up at night studying the systems of helicopters he felt he needed to learn to accomplish his job. The government of Turkey would request him by name. He made friends from other countries and even learned to speak a little of their language to communicate with them. He valued those friendships just like he cherished his family and personal friends.

On our free time we enjoyed RVing and taking short trips anytime we had a little time to spare. Thumbelina, our macaw, loved him and relished interacting with him. Our lives without him will never be the same. I pray that he will come to me in my dreams.

With all our love,
Janie & Thumbelina.

Visitation will be held from 4:00 PM until 9:00 PM, Sunday, June 20, 2021 at Corpus Christi Funeral Home with a rosary to be recited at 7:00 PM that same evening. Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 AM, Monday, June 21, 2021 at Our Lady of Pilar Catholic Church. Interment will follow at Rose Hill Memorial Park.