Don and Lois Coffin of Los Alamos on their wedding day, Sept. 10, 1949. Courtesy photo

COMMUNITY News:

On September 10,1949, Don Owen Coffin, the son of a teacher, and Lois Mabel Hamilton, the daughter of a preacher, promised “till death do us part”, and began a long, happy, and fruitful marriage. Don was just starting his senior year at Simpson College (Indianola, IA) and Lois was working for the Bell telephone company. A year later, after Don received his BS from Simpson, Don and Lois packed up a 1951 Ford borrowed from his dad, along with the wedding gift from her folks, which was a small travel trailer with no sanitary facilities, and headed for U of Colorado in Boulder for graduate school.

Meanwhile, about 1,000 miles away, a town conceived during war, and whose original and ultimate mission was searching for a means to peace for a world at war, was just being born. Shopping areas were being defined, streets being laid out, and the scientific laboratory was being separated from the new town of Los Alamos, NM.

In 1951, when Don started graduate school, Lois continued to work at the phone company to support them. They lived in their travel trailer for the two years of graduate school. Shortly after graduating Don took a job at the National Bureau of Standards. Lois quit her job and became a mother when their first child, Gracia, was born on July 20,1953. By late 1954, the funding had dried up at NBS and Don was searching for a new job. Already being a government employee with a Q Clearance, Don applied for job openings at Sandia Laboratory and Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory.

Sandia Laboratory responded quickly and sent him an airplane ticket to Albuquerque for an interview. Don was offered a job after the interview and was going to accept it, though he was not very excited about living in Albuquerque. But a few days later he was asked to interview at Los Alamos, along with another airplane ticket. This was the second air plane ride for him in his whole life. As the single engine Beech Bonanza descended on the Los Alamos airstrip, Don knew immediately this was where he wanted to live and raise his family.

Coffin Family at 2346 35th St. in 1956. Courtesy photo

In 1955, the Los Alamos community was still being born, and it was still “a government town.” Entry was through a guard gate by a pass that was issued by town security. Housing was assigned and all home repairs and upkeep was handled by ZIA, a government sub-contractor. Excited about his new job at Los Alamos, Don bought his first new car, a spiffy red and white 1955 Nash Rambler station wagon. On September 26, 1956, Don and Lois were blessed with the birth of their second daughter, Marcia, at the Los Alamos Hospital. A year later, Los Alamos became an open town, a real town, “The Secret City Now Open”.

On September 10, 2024, we proudly celebrate 75 years of marriage for Don and Lois! They currently live at Los Alamos Assisted Living, and this happy couple have spent virtually all of their 75 years together in the beautiful town of Los Alamos, NM.

Don and Lois Coffin on 90th Birthday. Courtesy photo

Don and Lois Coffin on 95th Birthday. Courtesy photo