Locke F. Edmondson

Mr. Edmondson died Thursday, April 18, 2003, at Northwest Medical Center, Springdale.

He was born March 4, 1921, in New Edinburg, the son of Robert F. and Golda R. Bonham Edmondson.

He graduated from University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. He earned his master’s degree at Oklahoma A&M and was awarded a doctorate from University of California-Davis.

Mr. Edmondson worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture for more than 28 years in the field of dairy science. He designed a process to remove radioactive strontium 90, a product of atmospheric nuclear testing, out of the milk supply.

He was a U.S. Navy veteran, serving in the South Pacific during World War II.

He moved to Bella Vista in 1985 from Dresher, Pa.

Mr. Edmondson was a charter member of Presbyterian Church of Bella Vista, where he was an elder.

Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Berenice, Bella Vista; two sons, Byron, Lawrence, Kan., and Keith, Salem, Va.; a daughter, Norma Lester, Wichita, Kan.; a brother, Justus, Tulsa, Okla.; a sister Miriam Taylor, Little Rock; and seven grandchildren.

A grandchild died earlier.

Bella Vista Funeral Home & Crematory is handling arrangements.