With the upcoming 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor this Wednesday, 80-year-old Bernice Hesch Chavez has been prompted to think back to that event, and how it profoundly changed life for her family. "I was 10 at the time, and my father, who was teaching mechanical drawing at New Mexico State University, was given a choice to go to work in Los Alamos or join the military. It was the last choice he would be given. Once he went to work there, he no longer had a say in what he was doing," Chavez said.

Long before Louis Hesch realized what his work entailed, life for his children was wonderful. "We lived in Bandelier while our family's apartment was being built in Los Alamos. It was so pristine and beautiful. My younger brother and I, along with other children of the families waiting to move to the hill, had the run of the place. While our parents were at work, our baby sitters were the MPs," Chavez said.

Once their homes were completed, the families who were recruited during the war settled into a life that was far from ordinary. They were only allowed to leave town three times a year to visit family and friends, and to shop. Chavez remembers the time that her teacher told her to go home, lock the windows and doors, and stay inside. "That's when they were running outdoor experiments. Everything was so secretive, and the whole town was under strict rules not to discuss anything that was going on. My parents couldn't even discuss their jobs with each other," Chavez said.

It wasn't until after the bombing of Hiroshima that Louis Hesch found out he had been drawing blueprints for atom bomb casings. Maria Hesch, who had been one of her husband's mechanical drawing students, worked under the auspices of physicist Enrico Fermi, who lived a few doors down from the family. Maria also helped to create the blueprints for the bomb. Their contributions during the war effort left a devastating mark on the family.

"While my parents were working in Los Alamos, they were never told what they were working toward, so for the rest of their lives they were haunted by their role in the deaths of thousands of people at Hiroshima and Nagasaki," Chavez said.

This past summer the play Manhattan Glass — written by Joey Chavez, Bernice's son — was produced by Teatro Paraguas at the Santa Fe Railyard and in Los Alamos. The drama depicts the turmoil that churned in the souls of Maria and Louis Hesch because of their work at Los Alamos. "They are a godless people," says the actress playing Maria Hesch.

In 1947, the Hesch family moved to Santa Fe, where Louis Hesch went to work for the highway department overseeing the photographic and drafting department. Maria went to work at the Book & Stationary store and became acquainted with many artists who encouraged her to start painting. "It was my mother's art that saved her. She was able to immerse herself in a creative way, and that helped her forget about her time in Los Alamos," Chavez said.

Maria Hesch became renowned for her acrylic paintings and intricate colcha (embroidery) designs. In 1998, an exhibit of her work was shown at the Museum of International Folk Art. Today, the Spanish Market presents the Maria Hesch Award annually to outstanding colcha artists. Louis Hesch died of Alzheimer's in 1991, and Maria, who contracted thyroid cancer, died in 1994.

Bernice Chavez was born in Santa Fe in 1931, followed in 1934 by her brother, Victor, who lives with his family in Eldorado. She has been married for 61 years to Jose A.C. Chavez, the youngest brother of pre-eminent New Mexican writer and historian, the late Fray Angélico Chávez. They have six children, seven grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

Once her children were of school age, Chavez entered the workforce and held several positions including that of dental assistant for Dr. Clarence Rehorn, front desk receptionist at the La Fonda hotel, sales clerk for Merle Norman Cosmetics and secretary to Sen. Alex Martinez. Upon her retirement, she took up photography, which led to her current profession as a landscape painter. She explained, "When I'm painting in my studio, I find the same inner peace that helped my mother come to grips with the work that she and my father did during World War II."

Ana Pacheco's weekly tribute to our community elders appears every Sunday. She can be reached at
505-474-2800.