Photo by Yvonne Kemp
On March 26, 2022, Edward Leland Carlson celebrated his 80th birthday with his wife of 33 years, Linda Miles Carlson, 5 generations of family and many friends at the Elks Lodge in Milwaukee. Mr. Ed, as he is frequently called, is a native of Phoenix, AZ, but has enjoyed his residency in Milwaukee for the past 17 years. Upon Edward’s arrival in Milwaukee, he taught a bilingual second grade class at an MPS school and later worked for the Department of Health Services (DHS) where he served as an Economic Support Specialist for Milwaukee County. Upon his retirement from DHS, he became a staunch supporter of the NAACP Milwaukee Youth Council and assisted Linda who served several years as the Youth Council Advisor. Ed and Linda are members of Cross Lutheran Church.
Edward served three years in the U.S. Army and twenty-one years in the U.S. Naval Reserve from which he retired as a Senior Chief Petty Officer. Twenty-five years of his professional career was spent with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services from which he retired as Assistant District Director for the Detention and Deportation Section in San Juan, Puerto, Rico. Upon his retirement in Puerto Rico, Linda joined forces with Edward to form LEA Services Corporation of Puerto Rico, the first private fingerprint service for immigration purposes located on the island. They eventually expanded to become a full-service agency which includes document translations, document preparations, naturalization classes, and coaching aspiring U.S. citizens. For nearly a decade, they assisted hundreds of immigrants and their families from more than 80 countries realize their dreams of successfully navigating the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization process.
