FAMILY ROOTS BIND KISSING COUSINS.

Byline: BETTIE RENCORET

LANCASTER - Gene Lemmon's consuming interest these days is the continuing pursuit of family historical roots.

Lemmon, 70, and his wife of five years, Betty Lou, have found, through their common interest in ancestors, that they are distant cousins - third cousins once removed, sharing John Lemmon Sr. on their family trees.

They met while researching ancestry annals for clues to their origins, and the resulting interfacing served as a basis for the romance and courtship that led to their marriage Oct. 6, 1990.

Even that was a genealogical event.

"We got married in the middle of the Lemmon family national genealogical reunion in San Diego," he said. "That was a really big bash with lots of formerly unknown cousins present."

Lemmon is a retired United States Air Force captain and military and civilian cinematographer and photographer.

When he retired in 1975 at Edwards Air Force Base, he was awarded the Air Force's meritorious civilian service medal.

He served on the Lancaster School District board from 1968 to 1973 and was a member of the Los Angeles County Hospital Commission from 1976 to 1981.

The Lemmons divide their time between homes in Lancaster and in Hemet, where they get genealogical information from a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints family research center.

Born in Iowa in 1925, Lemmon entered the U.S. Army Air Corps pilot training program right out of high school. He was not yet 20 when he earned his pilot's wings and commission as a second lieutenant in June 1945.

"The movie 'Dawn Patrol'. . . triggered my desire to be a pilot," he said.

Despite rheumatoid arthritis which precipitated his medical retirement from the U.S. Air Force in 1953, Lemmon served as a representative to the Air Force photographic and reconnaissance equipment advisory group during the Vietnam War.

In his 30-year association with the Air Force, he was an air-rescue pilot in the mid-Pacific area, a photographic flight-test chase pilot, a motion-picture project officer, a photographic operations officer, chief of scientific and technical information at the Edwards Flight Test Center, and chief of photography and television at the Flight Test Center. He also chaired several Air Force committees dealing with the technical aspects of his field.

He is a graduate of the University of Southern California, with a bachelor of arts degree in cinema, and of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, where he earned a master's degree in communication. From 1978 to 1985 he was an adjunct professor of cinema at Antelope Valley Community College.

These days, he lectures on genealogical research methods and computer applications.

Betty Lou, a descendant of Pilgrim Governor William Bradford, is multitalented.

She was a professional banjo player with the Banjoliers, and she owned and operated a professional dance studio for five years. She also worked for many years as a bank teller, administrative assistant and podiatry medical technician.

As a founding member of the Council on Alcoholism at the Long Beach Memorial Hospital she has been a medical counselor of alcoholic patients and has helped find temporary housing for their families.

She is an associate member of the Antelope Valley Guild to Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles.

LANCASTER - Election packets for the 1996 California Senior Legislature race are now available to those 60 or older who would like to be candidates.

The packets may be obtained at the Los Angeles County Department of Community and Senior Services, Suite 400, 3175 W. Sixth St., Los Angeles CA 90020.

Signed petitions and resumes must be returned to the department by 5 p.m. Jan. 31. They should be marked for the attention of Ray Sanchez, Los Angeles County election coordinator.

Thirteen will be elected as Senior Legislature assembly members and two as senators from Los Angeles County for two-year terms.

Anyone interested in becoming a candidate and who desires more information may call Sanchez at [phone] or [phone], between 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

LANCASTER - Volunteer counselors, trained by the Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP), are available by appointment to assist local Medicare beneficiaries.

HICAP counselors can provide information concerning Medicare coverage and costs, health maintenance organizations, Medicare supplemental insurance, long-term care insurance, and related health insurance issues.

All services are provided free at the Antelope Valley Senior Center, 777 W. Jackman St., Lancaster; the Social Security Administration office, 701 W. Ave. K, Lancaster; and the Palmdale Senior Center, 1002 E. Ave. Q-12, Palmdale.

To get this assistance, call toll free 1-800-824-0780.

LANCASTER - Menus for the week at the senior nutrition sites in Lancaster, Palmdale and Pearblossom have been announced. All meals include bread, margarine and coffee, tea or milk.

Monday: Polish sausage on a bun, peas/carrots, cabbage, potato salad, cookies.

Tuesday: Old-fashioned beef stew, broccoli, tossed salad, peaches.

Wednesday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, succotash, three-bean salad, orange.

Thursday: Roast pork, stuffing, carrots, spiced applesauce, chocolate pudding.

Friday: Tahitian chicken, baked potato, stewed tomatoes, tossed salad, gelatin with pineapple.

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PHOTO

Photo Betty Lou Lemmon watches her husband, Gene, work at a computer. Bettie Rencoret