08/07/2026
Obituary: In Memory of Chessie Lee Brown
“Chessie Lee Brown, 92, of Rio Rancho, NM, passed away on July 29, 2026, at 6:15 p.m., after a courageous fight with kidney failure.
Chessie was born October 19, 1933, in House, NM, to Alvin Wharton and Callie Lee Wharton (Henry). She weighed just two pounds at birth and loved to tell the story of her first crib — a dresser drawer — a fitting start for a woman who spent her whole life proving that big things come in small packages.
She was raised in Mountainair, NM, and graduated high school there in 1951. That same year, she married Kenneth Brown of Cedarvale, NM, and the two set off for Ridgecrest, California, hoping to make their fortune. Although fortune didn't quite find them there, Chessie found steady work at Bank of America until the birth of her first son, Dwayne followed with the arrival of Mike 3 years later. She then devoted herself to being a homemaker while her boys were young, and later found her entrepreneurial spirit as a Tupperware dealer, at which she was quite
successful.
In 1977, Chessie and Kenneth returned home to New Mexico to be closer to their aging parents, settling in Robinhood Park between Cloudcroft and Mayhill. There, Chessie became a bank manager at First National Bank in Cloudcroft, a position she held for many years. She also volunteered with the James Canyon Fire Department and served as secretary of the Robinhood Park Water Association — always finding ways to serve the community she loved.
After 60 years of marriage, Kenneth passed away in 2012. Chessie moved to Santa Fe to live with her youngest son, Michael (Mike), and a couple of years later the two relocated to Rio Rancho, where she remained until her passing.
On June 25, 2026, Chessie suffered a stroke that took the use of the left side of her body. After two and a half weeks in the hospital, she was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital, where she fought hard despite her body's inability to recover. She was scheduled to be released on August 1, after three weeks of rehabilitation, and her family had already begun searching for a residential care facility that could provide the care she would need. On July 28, she experienced sudden shortness of breath and was rushed back to the emergency room, where doctors discovered her kidneys were causing dangerous fluid retention in her limbs, lungs, and heart. In the early morning hours that followed, Chessie and her sons made the difficult, loving decision to choose comfort care, sparing her from dialysis given the unlikelihood she would ever stand or walk again.
Chessie is survived by her son Dwayne (wife Cressie) and grandson Riley, of Mayhill, NM; and her son Mike, of Rio Rancho, NM, along with his children: Drew (wife Jenny) of Ontario, California, and his daughter and granddaughter, Renee and Khloe, of Phoenix, AZ.
Chessie loved her magazines, game shows, word puzzles, and scrolling through Facebook. One of her greatest joys was calling family members to catch up and keep up with all the family "gossip." Standing not even five feet tall, she was nonetheless a giant in her family - never mean, never controlling, yet somehow always managing to run the household with nothing but love and understanding. A devoted Christian woman, she is now celebrating in heaven, reunited with all the family who went before her.
A memorial service will be held August 29th at 1:00 p.m. at the Mayhill Church of Christ with a dinner to follow in the church fellowship hall. The meal will be provided but if you would like to contribute a side dish to complement a taco bar, you are more than welcome to.”
— The family of Chessie Lee Brown
