George N. Lester

George Nelson Lester III, a resident of Westwood since 1959, died Thursday, January 28, 2021 at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Needham. He was 92. George was born April 7, 1928 in Atlanta, Georgia, the only son of George N. Lester Jr. and Katherine Vaughan Lester. He grew up in Atlanta next to Emory University, and graduated from Druid Hills High School in Atlanta with the Class of 1945. He had a younger sister Kitsy. George is a WWII veteran, having enlisted in the United States Navy at age 17 immediately after finishing high school in 1945. He passed a test to enter Navy electronics school, and attended boot camp at Great Lakes, Illinois Naval Training Station. While there, the War in the Pacific ended. George was then assigned to the Charleston Naval Base in Charleston, South Carolina, where he served honorably until discharge in 1946. George then attended Georgia Tech (Georgia Institute of Technology), where he earned his Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree in 1950. He went on to a long and rewarding career in electrical engineering, starting with the Allis-Chalmers Mfg. Co. where he was employed from 1950 to 1973, almost all of that time in the Power Circuit Breaker Division Plant in Hyde Park. The job also included significant time at the Allis-Chalmers manufacturing operations in Milwaukee, so George gained a love for that city as well. As a General Engineer with Allis-Chalmers, he worked in application, design and all types of testing. In 1973 he joined Charles T. Main, Inc. Engineers in Boston, where he worked on a number of HV and EHV power transmission and substation projects for clients in the US and overseas conducting switching transient and equipment application and evaluation studies. In 1985 he joined Boston Edison in the Substation Design Division and worked in a number of substation upgrade projects, until retirement in February 1996. George was based in Boston for his whole career, in Hyde Park with Allis-Chalmers and at the Prudential Center from 1973 on, with Chas. T. Main and Edison. Beginning in 1960, George participated in national standards committees of ANSI, IEEE and NEMA that were developing and refining standards for high voltage circuit breakers. He served as member and Chairman of a number of working groups of the PES (IEEE Power Engineering Society) including the Switchgear Committee and High Voltage Circuit Breaker Subcommittee. In the Boston Chapter of the IEEE PES he worked with the Education Committee and served as Chapter Treasurer. In 1994 he received the Laurence F. Cleveland Service Award from the Boston PES chapter. He became a Life Fellow of the IEEE in 1983, honored “For contributions to the standardization, design, and application of high-voltage power circuit breakers and to the understanding of transient switching of capacitor banks.” George traveled to many interesting US and international destinations for engineering projects and collaborations throughout the 1950s – 1980s including the UK for a year on exchange in 1951-52 (where he witnessed the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II), The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Iran and Argentina, bringing back fascinating stories and photographs. On April 14, 1956 he married Virginia Marie Bowen of Chickamauga, Georgia, after a romantic courtship that included visits between Georgia and Massachusetts. They lived in Canton initially. Then after the birth of their first son George in 1958, moved into a new house on Oak Street in Westwood in 1959 where they went on to raise a family and stay active in the community for the next 60+ years and where George was still living to the present. Oak Street was just a dirt road In the 1950s, but in the 1960s and 70s became a happy neighborhood bustling with young families and children, centered around the new Martha Jones Elementary School that opened in 1968. Their second son Albert was born in 1960. George actively participated in school and youth activities with George and Albert, particularly including leadership in scouting with Pack 504 and Troop 3. The family enjoyed summer vacations to Cape Cod, where George taught young George and Albert how to fish, and to visit family in Georgia. Family road trips included historical sites and national parks. After his son Albert, an aspiring teacher, was killed in a bicycling event by a teen drunk driver in 1992, George and Virginia spent many years active in speaking to high school and first offender settings across New England about the dangers and consequences of drinking and driving. George also testified at the State House for reform in driver safety laws. They were involved in MADD and related advocacy and victim support groups. More recently George was very active with PIETA, a bereavement support group for parents who have suffered the loss of a child of any age, based in Walpole. George will be dearly missed by his grandsons Ben and Jake. Growing up in Medfield with George and Virginia close by, they enjoyed having George regularly attend school, scouting and athletic events, and frequent family dinners and fun activities. Ben and Jake particularly appreciated his help in science projects that involved electricity, including a light switch display that was designed to teach the difference between parallel and series circuits. They also remember his “granddad jokes” like asking if they wanted ketchup on their ice cream after dinner. Photography was one of George’s hobbies. He had quite a collection of camera and darkroom equipment, and fascinating historical pictures he had taken, including of Winston Churchill in London and of Fidel Castro when he stopped at Rt. 128 train station in Westwood on a US tour in 1959, which was published in the Boston Globe after Castro’s death in 2016. George remained active in Westwood community service right into his 90’s. He was an appointed member of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Committee for the Town of Westwood, a town committee charged with planning ways to help make Westwood a more “walkable” and “bikeable” community. He was a fixture at the committee’s table for Westwood Day with a creative electronic quiz board that showed off locations in town where bike and pedestrian friendly improvements had been made. Participating in a strong church community with regular worship was an important part of George’s life. He and Virginia were active members of the First Baptist Church of Westwood. George served as a Deacon and was the church Moderator up to the time of his death. He enthusiastically participated in all church activities; he enjoyed all the music, and he especially loved the performances of the First Baptist Bell Ringers. He was a regular bible reader for Sunday services and always offered insightful comments along with the passage. George felt supported, loved and “at home” in the First Baptist community. George was also active with the Westwood Council on Aging. George was the husband of the late Virginia M. (Bowen) Lester who predeceased him in 2017; the father of the late Albert B. Lester; and the brother of the late Katherine “Kitsy” Mostellar. He is survived by his son, George N. Lester IV, and George IV’s wife Blanche Teyssier, of Medfield, and two grandsons, Albert Benjamin Lester II of Madison WI and Jake Whitney Lester of Hardwick VT. A graveside service with Military Honors will be held Thursday, February 4, 2021 at 1:00 PM at the New Westwood Cemetery. The public is invited to attend (but please call ahead because there is a 25 person limit) or watch by livestream at https://www.harborview.live/ . In lieu of flowers, donations to the First Baptist Church, 808 High St, Westwood, MA 02090, the Friends of the Westwood Council on Aging, 60 Nahatan St., Westwood, MA 02090 or the Friends of the Westwood Public Library, 660 High St, Westwood, MA 02090 would be appreciated.