When Ed and Darleene "Dottie" Bemis arrived on the Hill in 1947, "There weren't too many organizations," Ed reflected. However, it didn't take Ed long to get involved. When Ed retired from Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1980, having worked in the fields of radiation and health physics, he found that "your activities in retirement expand to fill the day."

Ed helped the Family YMCA become a permanent Los Alamos institution by crusading to obtain land and financing for a building. He has sung in Choral Society for more than 40 years and also served as Choral Society president. He has also sung with Coro de Camara since its founding in 1982. Ed and his late wife Dottie raised their three daughters: Christen, M'Lou, and Sandy, in Los Alamos.

Ed has been a member of the Los Alamos Democratic Party Central Committee for many years and has served as both ward and precinct chairman. "Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, just be involved." Ed advised.

Written by Karen Nilsson Brandt, copyright ©