John Hester Obituary

Col. Dr. John "Doc" Edward Hester III, 75, of Colorado Springs died Thursday, Nov. 22, 2007, at the Pikes Peak Hospice in-patient facility at St. Francis Medical Center in Colorado Springs. Visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29, at Memorial Gardens Funeral Home in Colorado Springs. Services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 30, at the funeral home. A military honors service will be held at 2:30 p.m. at the Fort Lyon cemetery, Fort Lyon CO. Hester was born on Dec. 24, 1931, in Atlanta, Ga., son of John Edward Jr. and Christine (Wood) Hester, and they preceded him in death. He married Gladys (Smith) approximately 43 years ago in Alexandria, Va., and she survives in Colorado Springs. In addition to his wife, Hester is survived by his four children, Christine Reddite Hester of Colorado Springs, John Edward Hester IV and wife Julie of Phoenix, Ariz., Michael Steven Hester and wife Carson of Palmer Lake, Colo., and Laura Lynn Wilson and husband Steve of Colorado Springs; a sister, Christine Jackson of Laurel, MD.; six grandchildren, Shirahna Pierce of Phoenix, Katie Hester of Phoenix, Zachary, Jacob and Derek Hester of Palmer Lake and Josiah Wilson of Colorado Springs; and a great-grand daughter; Malia Pierce of Phoenix. Hester graduated from Davis/Elkins College in 1953, and earned a doctorate in medicine from Jefferson Medical College in 1957. He completed a psychiatric residency at Agnew State Hospital in California. He served with the U.S. Navy from 1953 to 1957 and the U.S. Army National Guard from 1971 to 1991, including a tour during Operation Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991. He retired from the military in 1991. He was as a general practitioner in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Dakota and Alaska, and a psychiatrist in California, South Dakota, Alabama and Colorado. He worked for Veterans Administration facilities in Pala Alta, Calif., Fort Meade, S.D., Tuskegee, Ala. and Fort Lyon, Colo. He retired from the medical practice in 1996. Hester was a reserve sheriff's deputy for the Bent County Sheriff's Department from 1976 to 1996. Hester resided from 1996 to 2006 in the mountains near Howard, Colo., and spent winters prospecting for gold in Stanton, Ariz. He moved to Colorado Springs in 2006. A memorial fund is available at the 1st National Bank of Las Animas.