Shane and Alix Bemis


We chat with Gresham power couple Shane and Alix Bemis.

Share this article!

Shane Bemis
Mayor of Gresham, co-owner of Boccelli’s Ristorante; born, Montana

Alix Bemis
Co-owner of Boccelli’s Ristorante, Gresham; born, Arizona


NOTED

S.B.: “The beautiful thing about Alix is that she is the same no matter what. She has this awesome personality that is just steady.  It is really nice for me to have that in a partner.”

A.B.: “He is definitely the driven one. That very much attracted me to him.
We work really well together.”


1118PC Wedding

NUPTIALS
Mt. Hood Oregon Resort | 2009
Reception | Alix’s parents’ backyard, Gresham

Most memorable wedding moment?

1118PC wheres the beef2S.B.: “Honestly? The caterer forgot the beef for the dinner at the restaurant. I had to leave in the middle of the reception to run down to the restaurant to grab the tri-tip.”

A.B.: “We had hundreds of pounds of tri-tip that somehow did not make it to my parents’ house.

Everyone was ready to eat but we didn’t have any meat.”


 

1118PC Familyshot

KIDS
Derek, 16; Jacob, 13; Luke, 7


WORK-LIFE BALANCE
S.B.: “We have one son in high school, one in middle school and one in grade school. They are all in activities: piano, theater and sports. We go nonstop.”

A.B.: “We are fortunate that we both do jobs that are flexible. We make sure we have time for them when they need us.”


THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS
Shane bought Boccelli’s Ristorante in 2005.

1118PC boccellis

S.B.: “Almost all the employees have been there since I bought the place. Most of our customers are like family. We have a lot of repeat customers. They know our employees and our employees know them. It is a family kind of setting.”


1118PC KidsMtHood

HOBBIES

A.B.: “We like to be outside. It has been difficult recently with our kids’ age differences. We are homebodies, too. We like to relax and be together as a family. We have a great little backyard. We like to jump on the trampoline.”

S.B: “We like to run together when we can.”


2007Mayor and Derek

Shane Bemis was sworn in as mayor of Gresham in 2007.

MARTIAL DYNAMIC
A.B.: “I can tell instantly when he is overwhelmed and I need to step it up and take over things. And that is vice versa. We mesh well.”

S.B.: “We are never too serious. If I get out of line, she just checks me.”


WHY WE LOVE OUR JOBS

S.B.: “For me it is the people, particularly in today’s political environment where everyone seems divided. It doesn’t happen at the local level because I can’t govern like that. I can’t send a mean tweet to somebody and then walk over to the coffee shop and see them. Oftentimes, we are reminding people they still like each other and that we have a community we have to build together.”

A.B.: “I love that [the restaurant] is something new every single day. I like to be running around and not stuck behind a desk. We have so many regulars, it is nice to be able to talk to them every day.”


AMBITIONS

1118PC earth

S.B.: “To get my kids to college and have them be successful and good human beings. Then I want to travel the world.”

A.B.: “Travel the world, whether it is an RV going all over the U.S., or abroad, we love it all. We have both done a lot of travel, and that got the bug in us.”