Elmer Jesse Sowder was born on January 4, 1923, in Amarillo, Texas. Elmer married Jeanie on February 14, 1996, and they had four children: Carol, Cheryl, Kerry, and Kay.

Sowder attended Texas A & M College and was enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.

Sowder worked as a test director for the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in affiliation with the Nevada Test Site.

Josiah Edward Spurr (1870-1950) was born into a family of fishermen in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He received his Master's degree in geology from Harvard University in 1894 and was appointed to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) the same year. In 1896, Spurr was sent, with two other USGS geologists, to survey the Alaskan interior. This historically important expedition was followed in 1898 by an equally important journey down the 702 mile-long Kuskokwim River, surveying previously uncharted mountains, lakes, volcanoes and glaciers.

Modern dance pioneer Ruth St. Denis, nee Ruth Dennis, was born on January 20, 1879 in Newark, New Jersey. Her training began as a child with the practice of physical exercises developed by Francois Delsarte. As a teenager, she appeared in Broadway musicals and was a protégé of David Belasco, a theatrical producer. She combined spirituality, eastern culture, and religion in her dance routines. Christian themes were also explored and depicted in her works.

Dr. Leon Steinberg is the founder of Steinberg Diagnostic Centers in Las Vegas, Nevada. He moved to Las Vegas in 1958 to help build the first radiology center in Southern Nevada at Sunrise Hospital. In 1988 he founded Steinberg Diagnostic Medical Imaging (SDMI) with his son Dr. David Steinberg.