Los Lunas couple marks 50 years of marriage, family and community ties
They wed in Fayetteville, N.Y., in 1976 and built a Los Lunas life that ran from math classrooms to claims work, three children and six grandchildren.
Mike and Sue Demers marked 50 years of marriage on April 10, a milestone that traces more than a wedding date. Their life together has crossed state lines, school hallways, church pews and decades of change in Los Lunas, Belen and the Rio Grande Valley.
The couple married in 1976 in Fayetteville, New York, then moved to New Mexico in early 1977. In the years that followed, Sue became a familiar name in Los Lunas Schools, teaching math at Los Lunas Middle School and Los Lunas High School before retiring. The district says it educates more than 8,300 students in 12 surrounding communities, a reminder that one teacher’s career can touch families far beyond a single classroom.
Mike spent more than 35 years in the insurance business and later worked nine years administering and adjusting claims for the New Mexico Patients Compensation Fund. That work sits inside a bigger state conversation about medical liability, with a 2025 legislative analysis saying New Mexico has one medical malpractice lawsuit for every 14,000 residents, more than twice the national average. For the Demers, it was a career built on paperwork and responsibility; for the county, it reflects one of the behind-the-scenes systems that shapes healthcare costs and access.
The couple raised three children, James, Matthew and Charles, and now have six grandchildren. Their family life has remained rooted in the same broader valley that drew them here nearly five decades ago, where church, school and work often overlap across town lines. They attend Calvary Chapel Rio Grande Valley in Belen, another sign of how many Valencia County families build their lives across more than one community.
There are still smaller markers of the life they have built. Mike enjoys driving his 1971 Chevelle. The Demers root for the New York Yankees. Their border collie, Patches, keeps the household lively.
Valencia County News-Bulletin regularly notes golden-wedding anniversaries, including recent milestones for the Sanchezes and the Laws, but the Demers’ story stands out as a clear portrait of Los Lunas itself: a marriage that has outlasted school trends, career shifts and county growth, while staying connected to the people and places that gave it shape.
Know something we missed? Have a correction or additional information?
Submit a Tip
