James Laverne Hester

Jim was an All American young man who grew up in an All American City of Riverside. One high school, Poly High, and one Junior College, Riverside City College surrounded by thousands of acres of Orange Groves in the 40s & 50s.

Jim was a graduate of Poly High School with the Class of 1952.

Having attended many of his class reunions throughout the years, this was a tight knit group of students who knew each other well, enjoyed learning, sports, the arts and prepared well for their futures. His greatest joy was football & the comradery with his teammates.

During his bed-bound days at home, I would review his Poly High Year Books with him & talk. One day, I asked him “What was one of your many happy times in your life, his answer was “Spring vacation at Newport Beach”.

It was a generation back in the late 40s & early 50s where young people enjoyed good fun, long time relationships and stayed in touch with each other. He was selected to be the MC for the 50th Class Reunion with the largest turnout ever. Seventy came for the first time with a group of about 320 attending for this special occasion.

Jim was born at Loma Linda Hospital, to La Sierra College sweethearts, Benjamin G. Hester and Oradell O’Neal. They made their home in La Sierra when times were tough after the depression.

His father was an exceptional man who took care of him along with his grandmother, & other family members nearby, however, his mother, Oradell unexpectedly developed pancreatic cancer, an uncommon illness as she was a vegetarian and passed away at age 25 years old. Jim was only 7 years old at the time.

Jim’s father was devastated, as was the entire family, but his father made life for Jim filled with many projects, animals of every kind, and especially his Collie dogs that he played & slept with & his Mustang horse that he rode to grade school.

Jim was just born with a genuine happy personality. All his pictures show him smiling, and a joy to be around, he was a people person.

After his 1st year at Riverside College he was drafted into the military. He chose to join the US Marine Corps. He was first assigned to Irvine/ El Toro MCAW, 1st Marine Division – 5th Battalion. He was then transferred to South Korea to a Close Air Support Radar TEAM, a few miles from the DMZ.

Upon his return home from the military, he pursued his education and eventually began his business career.

In 1962, I was a new gal in town, having just moved from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. That is a story in itself how I ended up there, it was just meant to be.

In 1965, we were married at the Mission Inn. Riverside became my hometown in America and the joy of meeting Jim a “hometown” guy with so many friends, parties and his wonderful fun personality turned out to be my greatest dream.

At that time, the “Twist” was very popular and Jim was the “hit of the party”. When they would turn on the music and he could get down “real low” as he was “Marine Corps fit”; the party goers would cheer him on. I was a rather reserved lady at the time and I just went along with it. He was just great fun to be around.

Jim had the natural “public relations” ability that led him to be involved in a leadership role with many business & charitable organizations. This allowed us to have a fabulous social life in Riverside & Orange County. They referred to him as “Mr Saddleback” in Orange County; he was so sought after & popular.

When we arrived in Vista, one charity that was close to his heart was Operation Interdependence here at Camp Pendleton area that supported the troops in Desert Storm by coordinating gift “grab & go” baggies for troops in the Middle East.

Our life together was a complete joy. We traveled around the world extensively, entertained, made close friends, and he especially enjoyed my huge extended family in Canada. Our family reunions were 200 strong and Jim was just part of the entire family.

In 2000, we moved to Vista to retire in Shadowridge, a golf course community where he ended his final days at our home.

Jim was my sweetheart, my daily partner, we were hardly a day apart during our 60 years, my travel companion, always a gentleman with a quick wit, a caring & loving husband – I couldn’t ask for more. I will miss him and hope I can carry on as I begin a new chapter in my life, but it won’t be easy without him.

Jim and I want to especially thank all our friends & caregivers who helped Jim during his final days. They were angels that came along and made his ending as peaceful & comfortable as possible.

We shall miss Jim and may God Bless him as he makes his journey home to be with the dear Lord in Heaven. He will be buried with his father’s ashes and they will be together again.

Your loving wife, Bonnie, I will always continue to love you.

You changed my life to gladness, you were my everything, and you will always be my everything in life.

A graveside service for James will be held Monday, October 2, 2023 from 1:00 PM to 1:30 PM at Olivewood Memorial Park, 3300 Central Ave, Riverside, CA 92506.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.AchesonandGraham.com for the Hester family.