Castells, James B.

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James Benitez Castells

James Benitez Castells was born on April 2, 1927, in Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador, to Rosa Victoria Benitez, age 24, and Onofre C Castells, age 27. James arrived in the United States as a teen-ager. In Rye he lived at 5 Horton Street.

James became a U.S. citizen and served as an officer in the U.S. Army during World War II and in the Korean War as a tank commander. During his service in Germany, he met his wife while they were standing in front of a movie theater checking out the coming attractions. “I didn’t speak English, and he didn’t speak German,” she said. “For him, I think it was love at first sight. The moment he met me, he never left me.” They raised five children together.

James Castells helped build the Cincinnati Zoo— literally.

A trip to the Cincinnati Zoo with James Castells involved more than gazing at the animals. For 32 years, James served as a project manager for the Richard J. Huseman Co., which later became HGC Construction Co. Inc. During that time, he supervised construction of the zoo’s Elephant House, Children’s Zoo, Jungle Trails, Animal House and many other projects. “He was very proud,” said his wife, Helga. “Every time he took somebody, it was ‘I built this,’ and ‘I built this. ” Read article “Zoo Goes Ape Over Construction”

“For 20 years, he did most of the zoo projects,” said Raymond R. Huseman, who now headed the construction company. “He had the talents to do that variety of work. He was an energetic and enthusiastic worker.” He was that way at home, too. “Whenever we needed something fixed around the house, he was there for us,” said his daughter, Rosa Paquette of College Hill.

James went from being a devoted father to a devoted grandfather of seven. “He attended every football game and every basketball game they were in,” Mrs. Paquette said. “He was very proud of his grandchildren.”

James Benitez Castells suffered a stroke after triple bypass surgery and died Sunday December 21, 1997, at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was 70 years old.

At the time of his death, in addition to his wife and daughter, he was survived by daughters Teresa Brunk of Fairfield and Helga Terry of Hamil ton, and sons Onofre of Springfield Township and James of Greenhills. He was also survived by his step mother, Sarita Castells of Pisgah; three sisters, Mary Rose of Ecuador, Carmen Hostmann of Pisgah and Teresa Puga of Riverside, Calif.; and three brothers, Manuel Castells of Tenafly N.J., Carlos Castells of Springfield, Va., and Onofre Castells of Pisgah.

A memorial service was held at Paul R. Young Funeral Home.