While piloting his plane in the skies of New Mexico, Joe noticed a large plume of visible particulate pollution spewing from a power plant in the Four Corners area. He formed the Anti-Smog Federation, wrote letters and presented illustrated talks to educate people about smog.

Joe accepted a position in Los Alamos in 1950 and then met Marjorie "Marge" Jones, who also worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Married in Los Alamos on September 9, 1954, they raised their daughter, Kathleen "Kathy," in Los Alamos.

A pilot, Joe formed, and was president of, the Los Alamos Aeronautical Association to organize local pilots to successfully lobby the Atomic Energy Commission to open the Los Alamos Airport to private flyers.

Joe worked diligently to save the Denver Steel houses from destruction when the town was sold.

The Devaney-Longmire Trail, located in Western Area, is named for Joe and Conrad Longmire. An avid hiker, Joe continues to do maintenance on the trail that bears his name.

Additional biographical material can be found in the Los Alamos Monitor of September 14, 2003.

Written by Karen Nilsson Brandt, copyright