Gerald W. "Jerry" Lester

Generous, kind, loving, honest, funny, trustworthy, and ‘a little wild’ are just a few of the ways Jerry’s family and friends like to remember him. Lovingly known as “GW”, he lived the beautiful 81 years of his life exactly the way he wanted to. As his favorite songwriter, Willie Nelson said, “I take it not only a day at a time, but a moment at a time, and keep it at that pace. If you can be happy right now, then you’ll always be happy, because it’s always in the now.”

Jerry was born on July 3, 1929 in Sioux City, Iowa. His parents were John T. Lester (also known as Jack or J.T.) and Elsie Davis Lester. Jerry attended Bible school and loved being a part of the high school football team and playing the game. Even as he got older, Jerry loved watching football with his family every Sunday.

At just 16 years old, Jerry enlisted in the Marine Corps with the help of his father since he was two years younger than the legal age to join. He often sent his parents postcards from boot camp and overseas. He was deployed to Guam to serve in the Second Battle of Guam during the Pacific campaign of World War II. Jerry was very proud to serve his country and be a Marine.

After his service, Jerry picked up a job at a movie theater. He loved the movies, especially the old westerns and classics. John Wayne was Jerry’s idol. As John Wayne and Jerry would say, “Life is tough, but it’s tougher if you’re stupid.”

In his early twenties, Jerry moved back to Nebraska and started his career in telecommunications with Western Electric as an installer. While working there, he met Viola June Essley, a telephone operator. Jerry used to sneak into the switchboard room just to talk to Vi and ask her out. While dating, Jerry would write her love letters. One letter read, “Vi, you’ll be so nice to come home to.” She eventually gave in to his very persistent attempts to woo her, and on April 30, 1953 they were married in North Platte, Nebraska. They celebrated 56 years of marriage, and as Jerry would often say to Vi, “It’s been one hell-uva ride.”

Jerry and Vi were very happy newlyweds, living in Fremont, Nebraska. Vi traveled with Jerry on the job helping convert telephones from the switchboard to the dial system. They purchased their first home in Omaha while expecting their first baby girl, Sandra. They loved their bowling league, and to quote Jerry, “We were lousy bowlers but we had the most fun. We came out on the bottom in the league but we had one hell of a time!”

Jerry was a loving and adoring father to three children, Sandy, Tom and Michael. Jerry would look at Vi and say, “Oh God Vi, we made the best looking kids ever!” He was very supportive of his kids and devoted to his wife and family. They were everything to him. Their children were all born in Omaha, but soon after Jerry was transferred to Denver, Colorado where they have since lived in the same house for 45 years.

As the kids got older, Jerry loved spending time as a family and taking impromptu road trips. He’d load the kids in the car and just drive – often to the mountains, or to visit family in Wyoming and Nebraska. Jerry just loved to drive, and fast - so being a passenger was a whole other experience. His daughter Sandy fondly remembers road trips to the Boulder Library where they would sit in the car and watch the hippies. “It was riot!”

Jerry was also very involved in community service and was passionate about helping others. He was a Master Mason in Freemasonry, a Shiner, and a Knights of Templar. All of which are very exclusive and prestigious community organizations. Jerry helped two very ill children get treatment at the Shiner Hospital – just one example of the good works and compassion Jerry showed to all that knew him. He was also a member of the National Association Legion of Honor and the Telephone Pioneers.

Jerry’s work for AT&T was more than just work to him. He was devoted to his projects and to helping provide better communication around the world. One project included a job in Saudi Arabia as a project manager for the Saudi Arabian/United States Air Force’s communications. He received several letters of recommendation and excellence from the Prince of Saudi Arabia for his work overseas. Jerry also traveled to Thailand, Turkey, Denmark, Greece, France, and Italy over the years. He truly loved his work and rarely missed a day.

Jerry had many, many friends over the years and was a very personable and funny man of great one-liners. His brother in-laws Dale, Henry, Don and Dwayne along with Bob Ankarlo were his best friends. He loved to play card games, especially canasta with martinis, talking and laughing into the wee hours of the night. Jerry always said, “Willie [Nelson] smoked a barn full of pot, and I drank a barn full of martinis.” Jerry loved parties and holidays, any occasion where he got to be surrounded by family and friends. He would even make friends at the grocery store and bank. Running errands was one of his favorite things to do, especially if the errands were to help his friends and family.

Jerry had six grandchildren: Christine, Michelle, Nichole, Jeffrey, Kainoa and Alika, and two great-grandchildren: Elisa and Alice. He will have a third great-granddaughter in June this year, all of whom he absolutely loved, spoiled and adored. He loved spending time with them and used to enjoy taking his grandkids to the mall. He would slip them money to spend saying, “Don’t tell your parents. Now go have fun.” Jerry let his kids and grandkids just be kids. His grandchildren adored him in return, all of them agreeing that there was no better grandpa than grandpa Lester. One memory in particular showed just how attached he was to his grandkids. He would help take his grandson Jeff to daycare and would get tears in his eyes when he had to leave him there. He also loved visiting his grandsons Kainoa and Alika in Hawaii. One of his favorite memories was his visit with them to the battleship, “Mighty Mo” in Pearl Harbor.

Jerry enjoyed animals and loved his dogs over the years: Snookie, Duke, Keisha, Charlie Brown, Buddy, and his recent pets Boots, Teddy and his cat, Kiki.

But above all, Jerry was a family man. He lived for summertime barbeques in his backyard when he got to man the grill with his sons. And boy, could Jerry cook. If there’s one thing the family will miss, its Jerry’s cooking. He would say that the best times were when he was surrounded by family. Whether it be in the backyard by the grill, at holiday dinners, playing canasta at the kitchen table, or just lounging in his patio chair striking up a conversation, he loved being with family and friends.

The one thing everyone who knew Jerry would say about him was that he had the biggest and sweetest heart. So it seems symbolic that he passed away on the day of love, Valentine’s Day. He will be forever remembered for his generosity, compassion, love and devotion to his family, and for the good times he had with all that had the honor to know him. To quote one of Jerry’s favorite Willie Nelson songs, “No matter where our trails will finally wind, our paths will just keep crossing yours and mine. Until then and in my pocket you must go, I’ll take you with me everywhere I go.”