Melvin LaMar Lester

We had a close neighbor when I was tiny and they had 5 or 6 children. Their name was Margie. The boys name my age was Robert. I had a happy childhood.

I can remember my Dad spanked me once but I couldn’t remember what for. Mother said I hit him in the face with a metal spoon. I remember him picking me up and loving me and calling me baby.

I remember going to see my Dad in Salt Lake in the hospital once a week. Walter and I got so that we memorized all the little towns between Mammoth and Salt Lake. While we were waiting for Mother we used to roll down the hilly lawns in from of the hospital and Mother would give us a nickle and we’d go to a little store close to the hospital and buy an ice cream cone. They would only let us see our Dad through the screen. I wanted to go in and give him a hug but they wouldn’t let us. He had a Miner’s affliction called sillicosis and in the last stages it always turned into tuberculosis. He died when I was five. I remember his casket was in our front room. There were so many people there I went in the bedroom and took a pencil and paper and pretended like I was writing.

After Dad died Mother did other people’s laundry occasionally. She did the laundry for 50 cents a day. Then she got a job on the school lunch program. An Italian lady tended me sometimes and Sandra Johnson occasionally. Nina, (a little Mexican lady), also tended us a time or two. We loved all three of them. They were good to us. I remember Mother on her skimpy wages coming home with a lovely Easter dress for me once. Welfare gave us butter and salt pork. From eating salt pork Mother got ulcers. She healed them completely in the years that followed.

Mother got married to Daddy Dean when I was eight years old and we were so thrilled. She went with Elmer Snell too and considered marrying him a time or two I think. We liked him too but she certainly made the right choice.

After Walter started school and Mother was working in the school lunch program I used to go in first grade and listen and color and watch occasionally. I learned how to read from Mother working with Walt. School was very hard for Walter who was 20 months older than me and was in first grade. I thought I was helping him and I would lean over when he was reading and help him with his words. That was fine for a while then he would chase me away, which I can understand very well. When Walt learned it he would remember it forever while I would learn it fast but didn’t retain it. He had statistics on sports, car racing, and many other things that fascinated him in his mind and he didn’t forget them either. When I started in first grade I pretty well knew it. The teacher told Mother I could go in second grade but Walter said if I went in with him he wouldn’t go. I continued school in Mammoth through the fifth grade then they started bussing us to Eureka. My school days were a delight for me. I couldn’t wait for it to start in September after summer vacation. It was really easy for me.

When I think back I remember my girl friend or friends sometimes sleeping out under the tree and dreaming of future days. We wondered who we would marry and how many children we would have. We talked about having boys and girls and how many of each. We loved wishing on a star.

As I got older and went off to school I made it a point to make it to church and I felt like this was a great help in making right choices through the spirit as I partook of the sacrament.

I feel that we are the chosen. We get to have children, what a privilege. The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. To me we have the most important and wonderful role in the world. I love it!

I had to have a prenatal exam and the Doctor said there was only a very slim chance that I would be able to have children. I was saddened and cried. I was thrilled that I was promised these children in my patriarchal blessing. It was the only thing I had wanted most in the world. I had a hard time getting pregnant with my first and had to stay in bed a month, but eventually we made it to the appointed time.

Marci was our first born child and we knew she came straight from heaven. She was a beautiful baby girl. We were so thrilled with her. I loved to dress her up and play with her. She was an intelligent little thing. Marci had colic for about six months but was a healthy baby. The Lord had already charted our course and we had ten children.

The following is "From Rags To Riches" a history of Hilliard and Bear River

Harold J. Hutchinson was called as Bishop in September 1972. The Relief Society was reorganized, and Linnea Lester was called as president. She remembers having spring festivals and raising enough money to buy china dishes for the ward. They were also able to get large pans, ladles and spoons. They designed and printed a 'Hilliard Ward' cookbook to sell. Terry Lester designed the cover and arranged recipes as they were turned in. She was a great help to Linnea. Fancy dishes for receptions and parties were also purchased with some of the money, as well as, a little left over money to apply to the purchase of a microwave. The teachers were very spiritual and good. Sister Lester commented, "I know that the Relief Society was organized by inspiration by a Prophet of God, and I love the work. When I was called to the Bishop's office and asked if I would be the new president, my first impression was I'm not up to it. Then I told the new Bishopric that they had more faith in me than I did. I started to shake and shook for three hours. As soon as I got home, I went to my bedroom and got on my knees, and I was there a lot during the next five years. President Kimball's motto often came to my mind, "Do it," and I would repent and just do it. I truly believe that the Relief Society motto should have first priority; truly. "Charity Never Faileth."

Melvin LaMar Lester

Our loving Father, Grandfather and Great-Grandfather, Melvin LaMar Lester returned to his Heavenly Father on December 9, 2017 at his home in Hilliard, Wyoming surrounded by his family. LaMar began his mortal journey February 16, 1927 in Hilliard, Wyoming born to Merle and Francis (Bell) Lester. His early years were spent on the Lester Ranch that his grandfather Henry Lester homesteaded. He later purchased part of the ranch and remained there until the time of his death. He attended a one-room schoolhouse in Hilliard and later spent a year and a half attending Evanston High School. With the world engaged in conflict, he enlisted in the Coast Guard at the young age of 17. He served throughout the South Pacific and was honorably discharged in 1946. He married his sweetheart, Linnea Paulson on May 24, 1950 in the Salt Lake Temple. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and served in many callings in the Hilliard Ward. His favorite callings, however, were that of husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Together, LaMar and Linnea raised their ten children on the family ranch. LaMar helped augment the family ranch income by working several outside jobs including truck driver for Milne and Frontier Trucking Companies, worked on the Altamont Tunnel and for Bear River Lumber. He retired from the Wyoming State Hospital where he worked as a security guard. LaMar was always proud to tell every one about his 51 grandchildren and 100 great-grandchildren with three more on the way. He had a special relationship with each and every one of them.

Life Story written by himself

I was born on the 16th day of February, 1927, to Merle Lester and Frances Bell Lester. My Dad was 30 years old and Mother was 23 years old. I was the 5th child. Hilma, LaVerne, Allen, Merle, and myself and later Jean. I was born in Uncle Will and Aunt Alice’s house. (It later burned down, approximately in 1984). I was born at 6:00 PM. Dr. J.L. Wicks was the attending physician. My Dad drove a team & open sleigh to Evanston to get Dr. Wicks and returned in time to deliver me. Dad heated up big rocks in the oven to keep their feet warn on the sleigh.

I had a lot of fun as a boy. We always had chores to do; getting in wood & coal, milking cows, (up to about 18 head), separating the milk from the cream, feeding calves on a bucket, feeding pigs and chickens, cleaning barns etc. It seemed we always had time to play though. We played a lot of marbles, we had our own version of baseball. We didn’t have coaches so we made up our own rules. Usually skiing, sleigh riding, ice skating, playing checkers and monopoly etc. in the winter. We did a lot of sledding and some skiing over by Gilmores. They had some big snow drifts with big jumps to ski. We also did a lot of skiing behind a horse in the meadows. We had 2 or 3 ropes we would hold on to. We would start to go in circles on the outside edge where we would get whipping pretty fast. We had friends to our home a lot in the summer months and winter months.

I attended school at the Hilliard school. The school was located exactly where we live today. I attended school here from 1st grade thru 8th - 9th grade. My closest friends were Harold & Harvey Hutchinson (twins), Robert Gilmore, John Pierce, and George Robinson.

When I was in the 9th grade Mother and Dad moved to Salt Lake City. We lived on 2nd West 311 North. I went to Horrace Mann Jr. High while we lived there. I played some football for awhile but then I had to have my tonsels out. When I went back to school they wouldn’t let me play football any more but they let me be the kicker. I guess I did a lot better than the guy they were using. They wouldn’t let me wrestle either. So, I sluffed a lot and went to movies. I returned to Hilliard School for 10th and 11th grades. In 1944 the Hilliard school consolidated with the Evanston school into one district. At that time they didn’t have school busses so this forced our parents to find housing for the school kids to attend school in Evanston. My parents rented a house located at 1418 Center Street. I was in my senior year at this time.

January 1, 1944, I enlisted in US Coast Guard. I passed the physical in Salt Lake City. They gave me a date that I had to report at the train depot.

January 26, 1944 was my last day in high school.

January 31st - My folks took me to Salt Lake City where I was sworn into USCG and then they saw me off on the train for California. It was a neat experience to ride the train. It was a beautiful sight, especially seeing the Sierra Mountains.

I was in Basic Training for 9 weeks In San Francisco. We did a lot of marching, exercises, classes, KP duty, fire fighting classes, chemical war classes etc. We had to learn all types of ships and aircraft for the Japanese and those in the European conflict as well as our own. We had to identify all of these in 100th of a second on a screen. We were required to pass off this before we were permitted to go on liberty for the first time. We all had to learn the Morris Code and how to send it by dot and dashes and by hand signals too.

When I first met Linnea she was working at Time Finance on 3rd South in Salt Lake City. We dated about a year off and on. Linnea liked to go to the dances. We also went to movies etc. I asked her if she would marry me. She said that she had to think about it. I called her on the phone to ask her what she had decided and she told me she wanted to marry me.

We were married in the Salt Lake Temple on May 24, 1950. My Mother and Dad and John and Dorothy Martin were there with

Our first vehicle was a 1950 GMC pickup. I ran the school wagon for a few years. Back then all the roads were completely blocked with snow. I would take the ladies into Evanston to get groceries in my sleigh that I had built. (Dad built the runners for it). It had a stove in it to help keep us warm. We always had a pretty good load coming home.

My favorite calling was the Sunday School President, which I did for about 15 years. It was a lot bigger calling back then. I was responsible to call all the teachers and I set some of them apart as teachers. We also went to a special Saturday night meeting every Conference in the Tabernacle. I was also responsible for organizing the 24th Of July Celebration. We held it up at the Sulphur Campground on the way up to Mirror Lake. This was a huge celebration for the Ward. We organized a pot luck picnic. We also planned games, relay races and all of the entertainment. The whole Ward usually showed up for this celebration. It was one of the main highlights of our Ward activities. I was good at finding somebody when they needed a substitute teacher so I didn’t have to. I worked with really dependable teachers. I was in the Bishopric twice, and Executive Secretary to Bishop Harold Hutchinson. Linnea and I were set apart as Stake Missionaries on 24 November, 1991. We really enjoyed serving together. We worked with some good people and got very close to them

I worked logging with my Mother and Dad when I was growing up; I worked at the Altimont tunnel. I worked for a gas pipeline called Engineer Limited Pipeline. I was a welder helper. I worked for Ketchum Building Supply in Salt Lake City. I started out as a yard manager. Once I helped a guy figure out how much lumber he would need almost to the exact amount. When they knew I could do that they put me in sales. I helped build Pineview Resorvoir. We added concrete to the dam. I Worked for Morrison Knudsen putting in the railroad cosway across the Great Salt Lake. We would ride the train 20 miles back and forth. When that job got over I worked at Hillfield Air Base building the biggest warehouse in the state of Utah. I helped do the cement work. Delivered freight for Frontier Freight Lines for seven years then I drove a truck for Milne Truck Lines delivering freight. I worked at Bear River Lumber for Bob Dickerson. I delivered supplies for Luke Lym (Evanston Wholesale) in Evanston, Randolf, Utah, Green River, and Rock Springs.

I worked at the State Hospital in Evanston, first over the grounds crew and then in Security for the Criminally Insane as an afternoon Supervisor for 14 years.

Skeeter was probably my favorite pet dog. We got him when he was a pup around 1996. He was a small white poodle. He was a fun dog that loved me.