Marquez to be memorialized at Kirtland AFB Published Sept. 7, 2012 By Tech. Sgt. Matthew Rush 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs KIRTLAND AFB, N.M. -- At 10 a.m. Sept. 17, Kirtland AFB's Bicentennial Park will be renamed "Marquez Park" in honor of retired Lt. Gen. Leo Marquez, who died Dec. 30, 2011, at age 79. Throughout his 33-year career, Marquez was credited with revolutionizing the maintenance and logistics career fields. Today, an Air Force award bears his name. The "Lieutenant General Leo Marquez Award" recognizes military and civil service aircraft, munitions and missile maintenance Airmen who perform hands-on maintenance or manage a maintenance function. Marquez is also credited for being instrumental in keeping Kirtland Air Force Base operational after it had been placed on the Base Realignment and Closure Commission list in 1995. At the time, the Kirtland AFB Retention Task Force said that without his time and professional expertise, the effort to keep Kirtland AFB from closing would not have been possible. Marquez was born in Peralta, N.M., in 1932, and graduated from Belen High School in 1949. He entered the Air Force as a second lieutenant in November 1954, when he earned a commission through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps upon graduation from New Mexico State University. In 1978, NMSU named Marquez a distinguished alumnus. Upon his retirement from the Air Force, Marquez stayed active in New Mexico military affairs, serving on the Kirtland Partnership Committee and the New Mexico Military Base Planning Commission. Marquez is survived by his wife, Stella, five children and three grandchildren.