Richard G Lester

Dr. Lester was born in New York, New York on October 24, 1925.

At 15 years old, he matriculated at Princeton University, earning his AB degree in 1946 and subsequently earning his M.D. from the College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University in 1948. He completed an internship at New York City Hospital and his residency in Radiology at Stanford University Hospital.

From 1951-1953, Dick served as Captain, United States Air Force and Radiologist in Nagoya, Japan, earning an Air Force Commendation Medal for Meritorious Achievement.

Virtually all of his medical career was conducted at research medical institutions, among them the University of Minnesota (Professor of Radiology), Medical College of Virginia (now Virginia Commonwealth University) (Professor and Chairman of Radiology), Duke University Medical Center (Professor and Chairman of Radiology), The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (Professor and Chairman of Radiology), Meharry Medical College (President), and Eastern Virginia Medical School (Dean).

His service as President of Meharry Medical College was of special significance to him. His tenure at Meharry was recognized by President Ronald Reagan in a letter saying: “Meharry has … too fine a record, and too much historical significance to be denied. You can take personal pride in the role you played to preserve Meharry’s status as an academic institution of the first rank[.]” His achievements at Meharry were recognized by the National Medical Association with a Scroll of Merit acknowledging “his exceptional [and] immeasurable contributions [to assist] minorities in accessing educational opportunities across America.”

He also served as President and Board Chair of the Radiological Society of North America. The RSNA is the world’s leading association of radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists, and related scientists promoting excellence in patient care and health care delivery through education, research, and technological innovation. Its annual meeting is considered one of the world’s largest gatherings of scientists, bringing together members from over 160 countries.

Among his many friends, Dick was known for his wide-ranging interests, as a raconteur, and as an optimist whose wisdom leavened by humor, nurtured over his long life, was a gift to friends and acquaintances alike.

In 1949, he and Marion Louise (Kurtz) Lester were married. When Louise predeceased him in 2016, they had celebrated 67 years of marriage.

For his children, he set a high standard for achieving the personal and professional excellence he himself developed over his long life, including the joys and contentment of the closest of relationships, that with his wife, Louise. For his grandchildren he was a source of fun and laughter.

After moving to Oklahoma in 2008, Dick was a member of First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City. More recently, he became a member of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Edmond. Since the mid-1980s, he has been an avid Rotarian. In recent years, he was the oldest member of the Rotary Club of Edmond.

He is survived by his son Andy Lester and daughter-in-law Barbara, of Edmond, Oklahoma, and his daughter Elizabeth (Elli) Lester Roushanzamir and her husband, Saeid, of Athens, Georgia, and two grandchildren, Susan Lester, of Washington, D.C., and Allan Lester-Massman, of New York, New York.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made to the Richard & Louise Lester Scholarship Fund at: Alumni Association of Meharry Medical College, 1005 Dr. DB Todd Jr. Boulevard, Nashville, Tennessee 37208, Attn.: Roxie Johnson.

A graveside service for Richard will be held Tuesday, May 20, 2025 at 10:00 AM at Waterloo Cemetery, Edmond, OK 73025.