Bienvenido de Leon Santos
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Bienvenido deLeon Santos of Oxnard died October 17, 2021 with his wife and daughter at his bedside. He was 87.
Ben, as he was called by many, was born January 1, 1934, in Las Pinas, Rizal, Philippines. He was the son of Juliana Timbang deLeon and Simon Aguilar Santos. In the Philippines he played bass tuba and worked as a lineman. Ben enlisted in the US Navy at Sangley Point, Cavite City, PI and transferred to San Diego, CA in 1957. He served for 20 years in the SEABEEs as an electrician. Based in Port Hueneme he travelled the world, his various deployments included Yokosuka, Japan and Rota, Spain. Ben was also a Vietnam veteran. He retired from the Navy joining the fleet reserves in 1976; then worked for Southern California Edison for 14 years, finally settling into full retirement in 1990.
In retirement, Ben enjoyed traveling with his wife across the continental US in their motorhome. Together their trips included visiting family in the east coast and traveling along the pacific coast all the way to Alaska.
Ben's hobbies included cooking, fishing, gardening, watching movies and listening to music. He always said he was a jack-of-all-trades but a master of none. At 87, he died a master of many. Ben was known among family and friends for his jovial personality and will be greatly missed.
Married to his wife Edith Santos for nearly 60 years, together they raised two children, Dean Santos of Oxnard and Jocelyn Blair of Campbell.
In addition to his wife and children, Ben is survived by his siblings Pablito Santos (Virginia), Nora Santos (Oxnard) and Hermin Santos (Oxnard) and three granddaughters Brittany Santos (Virginia), Kelsey Blair (Los Angeles) and Lindsey Blair (Los Angeles). He is preceded in death by his father, his mother, his sister Letty Garcia, his brother Eddie Santos, and his sister-in-law Nereida Santos.
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday, November 17, at 1pm at Santa Clara Cemetery. It will be preceded by a Rosary on the same day at 12pm, and a viewing from 9am-12pm also at Santa Clara Cemetery.