Harold Edgar Lesser

Harold Edgar Lesser "Hal", was born Aug. 25, 1935, in Portland, Ore. He has no close relatives or family. He never married. Attended several grade schools in Portland, Boston, Kirkland and Seattle while following his father who was in the U.S. Navy during WWII. Attended and graduated from Beaumont Grade School in Portland, attended and graduated from Grant High School in Portland and graduated from Lewis & Clark College in Portland in 1957 with a BS in Journalism.

He worked as a newspaper reporter at the Medford Mail Tribune and The Portland Oregonian. He also worked briefly as a photographer for the Portland Reporter. He worked in the television news departments of KOIN-TV and KGW-TV in various jobs and retired in 1991 from KGW-TV news as a news cameraman, the position he liked the most and wished to return to after various inside jobs. He was credited with being the cameraman on Portland's first "live" news report via microwave.

Served as a trustee of the Oregon Military Foundation of the Oregon Military Museum at Camp Withicomb in Clackamas, Ore., and officer in the Portland Rifle and Pistol Club and had been pistol range officer of the Tri County Gun Club. He had been active in competitive shooting for more than 60 years and took part in final Olympic shooting team selections in 1972 and 1976. He competed in the USA National Pistol championships as a member of the Oregon team in 1968 and 1969. He was a member of the National Rifle Association, Oregon State Shooting Association, USA Shooting, Portland Rifle and Pistol Club, Tri County Gun Club, Providence Hospital Senior Club, Oregon Stamp Society and Central Lutheran Church.

He entered the Oregon Army National Guard as a private in 1953 and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve in 1985. He had served in overseas assignments during his reserve duty. He had been a member of the Board of Directors of the National Press Photographers Association, a founding member of the board of directors for the Portland Wheelmen Bicycle Club, secretary treasurer of the Oregon Press Photographers Association and a member of IATSE (local 659).

Preceded in death by his brother, Alan Roy Lesser (1944); father, Fred A. Lesser (1981); and mother, Elma A. Lesser (1994). Remembrances to Oregon Military Museum Foundation, Portland Audubon Society Wildlife Care Center or Central Lutheran Church.