Ed Hammel and his late wife, Caroline, arrived in Los Alamos in 1944. "When we got to the Overlook, Caroline looked down the canyon and said, 'I know where we're going. It's to Los Alamos. I've got a picture taken from this very spot,'" said Ed. "Caroline had been sent to Brush Ranch on the Pecos River in the summer of 1937 to recover from a sinus infection and had made a field trip to Los Alamos."

Ed and Caroline raised their three daughters, Carol, Beth, and Chris, in Los Alamos, where shortly after his arrival, Ed became involved in various civic activities. "A major transition occurred at Los Alamos after the Army left and the Atomic Energy Commission took over," Ed said. "Almost all of the remaining scientists and engineers took on various additional jobs related to the running of the community."

Ed served on the boards of Mesa Public Library and the Los Alamos Medical Center, the Los Alamos Board of Education, and the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos Advisory Board.

Written by Karen Nilsson Brandt, copyright ©