Armand Audini

AUDINI, ARMAND Age 95, long time resident of Albuquerque, died Wednesday, December 25, 2013. His spouse, Enrica, his parents, all his brothers and sisters and a niece, Michele preceded him in death. He is survived by a niece, Janice Sluga; her husband, Ev; her three sons, Mark, Jim and Tony, all of Washington State; Michele's husband, Steve D'Benedetto; his two daughters, Jeannine and Laura, her husband, Luis and their two daughters, Melody and Luisa of Florida; a niece, Nicki Schlapbuch and her husband, Kenneth and their two children, Maria and Brandon of Wisconsin; a daughter, Katherine Shackles and her husband, Edward, their four children, William, Katherine, Constance, and Cynthia of Missouri and several close friends who considered him family. "Mr. Audini" as he always introduced himself, was one of the many quiet heroes of WWII. He served his country with distinction in New Guinea, later traveling all over the world with The United States Air force. The Chief, as he was acknowledged every time he set foot on an Air Force facility, achieved the highest non-commissioned rank of CMSG and had a scrapbook full of commendations for his excellence and dedication. In the late 50s, he was stationed at the old Sandia Air Force Base in Albuquerque. This gave him a love of New Mexico and, after his 27 years of military service, he returned here with his wife, Enrica after his Air Force Retirement. After painting his house for the third time in the first year of retirement, he realized that he was not a retiring kind of guy. So he applied to the VA and went on to become Maintenance Controller there until he retired again after 40 years of further service. It was said that Mr. Audini's fingerprints were on every inch of the VA and he always left things in better condition than he found them. Mr. Audini's Associate's Degree belies his genius. He began by picking up anything that looked interesting on his way home from grade school and taking it apart to find out how it worked. It can be said that there was very little on this planet that Mr. Audini didn't figure out how it worked and often how to make it work better. While most of us re-invent the wheel, Mr. Audini's life was about inventing (and then improving on) the wheel itself. Mr. Audini was a force. He was gruff and salty and crusty and tough as nails. It was exactly what you'd expect from an airman who survived WWII in New Guinea. He had little tolerance for stupidity and demanded excellence from everyone he worked with... most especially himself. But he also gave great loyalty and inspiration to those he worked with and the soldiers under his command and his associates at the VA learned from him and loved him in the process. He hid his kindheartedness from some people, but all of us family and friends who loved him and will miss him terribly knew what a special and unique treasure he was. In a paraphrased quote from Hamlet, "We will not soon his like again." On Friday, January 24, 2014 at 1:30 p.m., with full Military honors, Mr. Audini's ashes will be placed beside his beloved wife, Enrica at the National Cemetery in Santa Fe. Anyone wishing to follow the caravan to Santa Fe should be in the parking lot of FRENCH - Lomas no later than 11:45 a.m. Friday. A Celebration of his life is scheduled for Saturday, January 25, 2014 10:00 a.m. at FRENCH - Lomas. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, .