Victor Leroy Lesher, nickname Roy (and very few people call me anything else but Roy).  Born Norfolk Virginia February 6, 1939. Granby High School 1957, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.  Graduated 1961 with BS in Math.

US Air Force 1962 through 1985.  23 years.  Retired as Lt Colonel.  Served mostly in Electronics with permanent overseas assignments in Taiwan, Korea, Spain, and Turkey and temporary assignments in almost all countries in Far and Middle East.  Assignments in US in Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Virginia, and Washington DC (four years Pentagon and four years White House).

The White House years were with the White House Communications Agency during a very turbulent time.  Nixon’s last six months, two years with G Ford, and a little over a year with J Carter.   I served as a Communications Presidential Trip Officer when traveling and, lucky me, I was a few feet from Squeaky Fromme in Sacramento when she tried to shoot President Ford, and then two weeks later I was helping the motorcade leave the St Francis Hotel when Sara Moore started shooting at President Ford.  Had trouble getting people to travel with me for a while.

After leaving the Air Force I used my GI Education funds and received a Masters Degree in International Studies from Old Dominion University in 1986.  Interesting program and I got to visit and study in Russia for a little while with it.  But then after graduation I found that I probably had the wrong degree.  Could not get a job!

So, used the rest of my benefits and immediately started the Masters in Business Administration (MBA) program, also with Old Dominion University.  I did finish the degree (1990), but got a good job working in manufacturing in Virginia long before graduation.  Worked 16 years with a manufacturing firm that made industrial pumps.  This was a non-union plant in Virginia and we went through several mergers during my career with them.  Since we were non-union in a low cost of living area, we survived all of the mergers and doubled in size during each merger.  The firm was Worthington Pumps at the time I first joined them, and it later became Dresser Industries Pump Division, then Ingersoll Rand Pump Division, and then Flowserve Pumps (which few people have heard of) until the time of my retirement at age 65 several years ago now.

I worked initially in Cost Accounting, then Credit Collections, then Aftermarket Management, and then for the last several years I worked as an International Tech Consultant handling trouble calls from throughout the United States and around the World.  Certainly my most enjoyable work, because we were always the heroes  getting people back into service.  When I did retire from the company, I received the normal gifts from the company, but the most valued presents were the many e-mails from around the world from people expressing their thanks at my work for them.

So, since my wife Sally and I have identical birthdays, Sally tried to retire with me at the same time, but she had worked for over 30 years as a “scopist” a legal transcriber for a court reporting firm in Seattle.  Her best court reporter just would never let her go and when we settled down on Camano Island, he pleaded Sally to go back to work full time for him.  She did so for a number of reasons, but I think the best one is that now she can spend her money on the grand kids as she sees fit and I can’t slap her hands anymore!

My passions remain with my Lions work, but the Camano Island Activities Newsletter is so important to me and the community, too. I’ve also joined the Seattle NW chapter of Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (VOSH), a healthy mix of ophthalmologists, optometrists, Lions, wives and administrators who form teams to go overseas with thousands of our collected eyeglasses to service those in economically depressed areas. My first trip to the remote areas of Puerto Vallarta was a 21 member team equipped with all of our optometric equipment and 12,000 pairs of eyeglasses. We served almost 2,500 people on that trip. These trips continue for me just about once every year. Please call or write if you’re interested in Lions, VOSH, or in subscribing to our community newsletter. If you run into people with financial need who also need eyeglasses, hearing aids, or eye surgeries such as cataracts, please ask them to contact me too. Thank you! Roy Lesher, (360) 387-0483, roylesher@aol.com

Read about Roy in the Everett Herald