Dr. Charley Marion Lester, Jr.

Service will be 11 a.m., Saturday, June 27, 2020 at St. Paul UMC, 1001 Pierre Ave.  Interment will follow at Long Ridge Cemetery, Waskom, Texas.  Open visitation will be from 11 a.m., to 4 p.m. Friday at Heavenly Gates.

Dr. Charley M. Lester, Jr., a long time resident of Shreveport, LA passed from this life to his heavenly home on June 20, 2020.  He was born on February 28, 1934 in Scottsville, TX to Charley and Edna Lester.  He was the only child born out of this union.  After graduating from Pemberton High School, he attended Wiley College in Marshall, TX.  Upon graduation from Wiley College, he attended Howard University for graduate school from 1952-1956. After leaving Howard University, he enrolled in Meharry Medical College where he obtained his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in 1960.  From there, he joined the United States Air Force and was stationed at Croughton Air Force Base in Bedfordshire England, where he operated his own dental clinic from 1962-1965. 

In 1965, he returned home and opened his own private practice, Lester Dental Corporation where he worked for 50 years.  He also married Julie Boston Lester in 1965 and they were married for 54 years until his untimely passing.  Out of this union came 2 girls, Kai and Charmel.  Charley enjoyed fishing, socializing and working in the community with his Omega Psi Phi brothers, hunting, working in his garden and worshiping with his church family.

Charley practiced dentistry in Shreveport for 50 years and was very active in the community.  He was one of the first African American men to serve on the Police Jury, which is now known as the Caddo Parish Commission.  He was also a very active member of St. Paul United Methodist Church, New Dimensions Chorale Society, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, the National Dental Association and the Pelican State Dental Society.

Charley was preceded in death by his parents, Charley and Edna Lester.  Left to cherish his memory are his wife Julie; daughters, Kai and Charmel; grand fur-baby, Teela; and a host of beloved relatives and friends.

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