Robert "Bob" Lester

Robert “Bob” G. Lester, 79, of Midland, left this earthly home for his heavenly one on Sunday, November 28, 2021, at Midland Memorial Hospital, in Midland, Texas.

Visitation will be Wednesday, December 1, 2021, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM, at Fairmont Park Church of Christ in Midland.

Funeral Services celebrating Bob’s life will be held on Thursday, December 2, 2021, at 1:00 PM, at Fairmont Park Church of Christ with Mike Crowley and Tim Baugh officiating.  Burial with honors will follow at Resthaven Memorial Park in Midland.  Arrangements by Sunset Memorial Funeral Home.

Robert “Bob”, “Uncle Bob”, “Pop”, “Honey”, was born in Waynesville, NC to Roy and Myrtle Lester on October 9, 1942.  He graduated from Leicester High School in Ashville, North Carolina and hopped on a bus the next day for the Air Force!  He enlisted in 1961 and while stationed at Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas, he met the love of his life, his “blue eyes”, Shirley Jean Johnson.  They married in Coleman, Texas on April 23, 1965, and made their home in Abilene.  He left for Vietnam in October of that year and was deployed for a year.  He was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1969 and went to work for General Dynamics building airplanes.  The couple moved to Waco, Texas in 1966 and started their family in 1967 with the birth of their first daughter, Angela Dawn.  Bob received his undergraduate degree in Waco and graduated from the Police Academy there in 1969.  The couple later moved to Coleman, Texas where he worked as a police office for 4 years and made life-long friends. He went on to work for the Big Spring PD and finally, the Midland PD in 1985, always bringing his family along for the ride.  Bob also worked airport security towards the end of his career with the Midland PD.  He retired from Midland PD in 2005, where everyone fondly knew him as “Uncle Bob”.  He conducted his duties with pride and fairness, giving people a break when he could, and encouragement on the way to jail if he couldn’t.  He worked security at Dillard’s and ran escorts for Ellis Funeral Home.  After Bob retired, he went to work part-time as a funeral assistant at Ellis and retired for good just a few years ago.

Bob is preceded in death by his parents, his sister, Phyllis Rathbone; infant sister, Emily Lester; daughter, Angela Dawn Lester; and faithful friend and Yorkie, Cooper, who never left his side.  We know Angie and Cooper met him at Heaven’s gate and they are praising and worshiping God, whom they both adore.

Bob is survived by his precious soulmate and wife of 56 ½ years, Shirley Jean (Johnson) Lester; daughter, Andrea Leigh Robertson and husband Cade Robertson; sisters, Carolyn Lester, and Marie Carter of North Carolina; grandchildren, Steffan Jordan, Will Allison, Jackson Robertson, Cutter Robertson, and Eden Robertson; two nephews, Jason Rathbone and wife Amy, and Dorian Artemis; great niece, Aria Artemis; and too many friends to count.  Bob never met a stranger and if he was your friend, you know you were loved.

Pallbearers will be his grandsons: Steffan Jordan, Will Allison, Jackson Robertson, and his son-in-love, Cade Robertson, David Scardino, and Terry Sevart.

The family would like to extend our sincere thanks to the staff at Midland Memorial, specifically those on the fifth floor and especially nurse Erika.

“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14