Luis "Louie" Mancilla Castro

Luis Castro, affectionately known to friends and family in the US as “Louie,” went home to be with the Lord Jesus in the early morning on July 29, 2019. Luis Leon Castro Mancilla, (his given name at birth) was born in Mexico City on January 18, 1929 to Guadalupe Mancilla Ortega and Luis Hilario Castro. After completing his required military service in Mexico, Louie immigrated to the United States in hopes of finding a better opportunity for himself. Once he crossed the Mexican border and the Rio Grande, he moved around to various places in California, San Francisco, Marysville, and Yuba City, finally settling in Sacramento where he became a long-time permanent resident. It was while he was working as a waiter at Parisi’s Italian Restaurant that Louie met his first wife, Marilyn Buchanan. They married and had three children. They were deeply saddened, however, by the loss of their first 2 children: Christina Lupita who passed at 8 days, and Luis Anthony the eldest who died at age 3-1/2 years. Days after burying their first-born son, Louie & Marilyn learned she was pregnant with their 3rd child, Jenny, born 9 months after the death of her brother. In 1962, with the help of his boss, Mr. Parisi, Louie filed for American citizenship and on March 12, 1962, he became a US citizen, and his name was changed to Luis Mancilla Castro. After a 5-year struggle following the death of his 2 eldest children, Louie and Marilyn divorced.

It was later at a social dance that Louie met a lovely young girl, Rachel Lydia Macias, who soon became his second wife and life-long partner. Shortly after the couple married Louie’s daughter, Jenny, came to live with them and the three became a little family. Louie and Rachel remained happily married for 55 years until her passing on August 20, 2018.

Louie held many jobs in order to support himself and later his family. When he first came to the US, he worked in the fields and in various restaurants. Finally, in Sacramento, he found steady work at Parisi’s Restaurant, then Maid-Rite and Campbell Soup, until he obtained employment with the Sacramento County Water and Sewer District, from which he retired. Louie had always wanted to finish high school and so after retirement, he reached his long-time goal and later went to also attend Bible College.

Louie and Rachel enjoyed travelling to Mexico to visit family, trips to the mountains, and in their later years, they thoroughly enjoyed their trips to the nearby casinos. At one time in his life, Louie bought a red motorcycle and he and Rachel would take weekend trips up to the mountains on the bike, sometimes alone and other times with friends. Louie also enjoyed going on a few mission trips to Mexico, where he served as the interpreter for the American mission teams.

Louie was preceded in death by his wife Rachel Castro, his mom and dad, his 3 brothers: Roberto Curiel Mancilla, Sergio Castro Mancilla, and Patricio Castro Tajonar, his stepmom Pina Tajonar, his stepfather Jesus Curiel and his first wife, Marilyn Kirchner and their first two children.

Louie is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Jenny and Margarito; his siblings in Mexico: Elena Castro Tajonar, Lourdes Castro Tajonar, Blanca Castro Tajonar and Luis Fernando Castro; his sisters-in-laws in Mexico Alicia Orozco Mosqueda and Maria Antonietta Garcia Bastida and the numerous nieces and nephews. Here in the US, Louie is survived by his mother-in-law, Jessie Perez (99 yrs. old), and his sisters/brothers-in law, Addie (Anthony), Tony (Sherrie) Macias, Yolanda (John) Luna, Liz Luna and Betty Letsinger, the numerous nieces and nephews, his grandchildren by marriage Efrain (Miros) Garcia, his great-grandkids Harrison and Regina, and his very special God-daughter, Alexandria, whom he affectionately nicknamed “Chuli,” which means “cutie” because she was, and is, so very cute. Besides being his godchild, Alexandria was to her Nino Louie the granddaughter he never had; and they had a very special, tight-knit bond all the way unto his death.

Louie will be greatly missed. A Celebration of Life will be held in the Chapel of the Valley on Monday, August 12, 2019 at Mount Vernon Memorial Park, located at 8201 Greenback Lane, Sacramento, CA 98628. Visitation will commence at Noon, a memorial service at 12:30 p.m., and immediately followed by a graveside burial service at 1:30 p.m.