Basil K. "Bill" Laskar (April 18, 1921, Chicago, IL - January 13, 2007, Albuquerque, NM)

Basil K. "Bill" Laskar was born April 18, 1921 to Greek immigrants and became a permanent resident of Albuquerque in the early 1930s. Bill started an early career as an aircraft mechanic at Oxnard Field in Albuquerque and continued as a civilian aircraft mechanic throughout WWII at Albuquerque's Kirtland Field. Bill also worked as a photographer for the Albuquerque Journal/Tribune and had his own photo shop (Laskar Photos) in teh late 1940s and early 1950s. In 1953, he started working for Sandia National Laboratories as a photographer and retired as the Sandia Lab News Photographer in 1980. His photographs have appeared in Life Magazine, National Geographic, and more. Bill was a drummer in various jazz/dixieland bands in Albuquerque in the 1950s-1960s.