Roses are Red ,Violets are blue And God made Someone Very Special,When He made you.
You both changed my life! for the better.Thank you and LOVE YOU!!

Lester was a genuinely good man, and never turned his head from helping anybody. My family and I thank you for your life, and I know your rewards in Heaven will be plentiful.

We'll miss seeing Les and Cless walking hand and hand through the Fiesta Village parking lot, and sit and wait for the mail.
Our prayers and thoughts go out to the family.
May there memory be eternal.

I send my sincere sympathy to Lester's family. We, in Fiesta Village , looked forward to a pleasant visit each day as Less and Cless would sit waiting for the mail.  They were a real inspiration in quiet devotion to one another.

We enjoyed knowing Les and Cless as we lived neighbors to them 20+ years ago when they had their motorhome on Rio Grande and we were on LaJoya in our 5th wheel.  Again they were our neighbors on Mercedes for the last few years. We will miss them!  Loren & Beulah Nelson, Cushing, WI

We miss Clessia's smile and Lester's wit. It was a pleasure to be their neighbors.
Rest in peace, Dear Friends.

Obituary

Lester Alvin Himes resided at the Colorado State Veterans Nursing Home since August 2010. He died of acute renal failure (kidney failure) on August 30, 2011 at the age of 92. He died quietly and peacefully and without pain.  He was alert and often joking with nurses right up to the time of his death.

Lester Himes was born March 15, 1919 in Faith, South Dakota. He married the former Dundee Rae Hollister on January 1, 1949. He was survived by their four children: Lee A. Himes; Shirley D. Himes; Glenn A. Himes; and David P. Himes. (Lee, Shirley, and Glenn were from a previous marriage but were adopted by Lester.) After the death of Dundee Rae in August 1960, he married the former Clessia Vontella Blakeslee in 1963. 

Lester Himes was a World War II veteran, where he was assigned to the 1st Army, artillery division. He held the rank of Master Sergeant at the time of his discharge in 1945. After the army, he continued his education and received a Masters Degree in Education.

Lester worked for ten years for the Veteran Administration for 10 years in Minneapolis, MN from 1948 to 1958. In 1958 he accepted a position in Huntsville, AL for the US Civil Service in the Human Resources department. He retired in June 1975. Lester was an avid traveler and a member of several camping clubs. He established the first GOOD SAM’S Camping Club in Alabama and was the first president of the club. He held a life time membership to the national GOOD SAM’s Club.

Lester moved to Hurst TX in 1979. In 1983 he started spending the winter in south Texas in the city of Mission. In 2007 he purchased a home in Mission and began living full time there. 

Lester survived prostrate cancer in 1987 and a major heart attack in 2008. Clessia developed Alzheimer Disease in 2006. In April 2010 Lester and Clessia moved to Walsenburg CO to live with their niece: Norma Chavez. Later that year, Lester and Clessia moved to the Colorado State Veterans Nursing Home in Walsenburg. Clessia Himes died in May 2011.

Lester was a kind and gentle man who would always help another in time of need. He will be greatly missed. A remembrance of his life was held with family members on September 3, 2011. His body was cremated and his ashes will be dispersed along with his dear wife’s at a future date.

During his RV camping years and later when he moved to Mission, he had a sign in front of his place that stated: Les and Cless - What a Mess!

OBITUARY

Lester Himes

March 15, 1919 – August 30, 2011

Imperial Memorial Gardens Funeral, Cremation & Cemetery

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