Lester Zoellner

Lester Zoellner, (1931-2015) passed away peacefully the morning of June 29th at his son’s house in Mountain View, WY.  Lester’s two daughters Carol and Julie along with his daughter-in-law Divina were at his side.  Lester died exactly one month after being diagnosed with cancer.
Lester was born on July 9th 1931 in Arlington Heights, Illinois.  He lived in several cities in the Chicago area until 1947 when he moved to Grant Michigan with is mother and stepfather, Anna and Walt Schroeder.

On January 11th, 1949 Lester enlisted in the Army.  Lester was stationed in Japan when the Korean War broke out, and spent time in Korea with the 538 Field Artillery Battalion until his honorable discharge on June 14, 1952.

In 1963 Lester fought once again, but this time it was for the custody of his four children, the youngest 6 months old.  Lester was awarded custody, something rarely done in the early 60s. Lester’s widowed mother moved in with the family to help raise his children.  The family lived in Illinois until 1974 when they moved to Grant, Michigan.  Lester had hunted in the Gillette area of Wyoming in the early 70s and when he had an opportunity to move to Wyoming near his son Mike, he did not hesitate.  He moved to Lyman, WY in 2006, and had 9 happy years doing what he loved.  Over the years, Lester had worked in the plating to support his family, but once the children were all out on their own, Lester concentrated on being a gun smith, his other true passion.  It was rare to find Lester without a gun or some ammo in his hand and hunting was one of the things he loved most.  The picture above was from September 2014, his last antelope hunting trip at the age of 83.

Lester is survived by his 5 children:  David Zoellner, Michael (Devina) Zoellner, Carol (Daryl) Heinz, Julie (John) Martin, Robert Zoellner, 9 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.  He was preceded in death by his mother, Anna Schroeder and his siblings, Don Zoellner and Shirley Robb.

The family invites all who knew him to a celebration of his life at the Fort Bridger American Legion Hall on Sunday, July 12th from 2-5 pm.  His final resting place will be at the Oregon Trail State Veterans Cemetery in Evansville, WY.  Private services will be held there on Monday, July 13th at 2:00 pm.

The family asks that in Lieu of flowers, donations in Les’ honor be made to the American Legion Post 0036, PO Box 174, Fort Bridger, WY  82933