Long-time Battle Mountain resident Monte L. "Bud" Mauldin died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 73 on April 26 in Reno, Nev., after a long illness.
Monte, known almost universally as "Bud," was born Feb. 21, 1940, in Albuquerque, N.M. He spent most of his young life in New Mexico, graduating from high school and college in Las Cruces. Monte also served in the United States Navy. After college, he worked as a chemist at New Mexico State University. He moved his family to Battle Mountain in 1974, where he worked in mining and was active in the community as a member of the Lions Club and a supporter of high school sports.
He returned to Las Cruces in 1986, and resumed to his career in chemistry, taking a position as a instrument technician at New Mexico State University. He elected to retire from NMSU in 1995, and moved back to Battle Mountain to be with his large extended family and enjoy entrepreneurial pursuits. Eventually, he took a job at the Lander County Landfill, where he was a well-known gatekeeper.
Throughout his life, Monte was known and respected as an intelligent, loving, wise and accepting friend, possessed of many talents and truly a man for all weather. He is survived not only by hundreds of friends and dozens of extended family members, but also by his son Todd Mauldin of Reno, Nev., and his former wife Bonita K. Mauldin of Las Cruces, N.M.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 11, at 11 a.m. in Battle Mountain, Nev., at the Hideaway Restaurant. All with fond memories of Monte are encouraged to attend.
