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Lester Kyle Aldrich II
12/01/1936 — 12/29/2006
From Richland, WA, US | Born in Columbus, Ohio
Lester Kyle Aldrich II
Lester Kyle Aldrich, II of Richland, Washington, was born in Columbus, Ohio, on December 1, 1936. He went to be with the Lord on December 29, 2006, as a result of congestive heart failure. Les was raised in Ohio and Michigan, and graduated from Okemos High School in Michigan. He met and married the love of his life, Shirley Melton, in 1956. They were married for 49 years until her death in 2005. They lived in Virginia, Michigan, Maryland, North Carolina, and Idaho. Les and his family settled in Richland in 1979.
Les served in the Army for seventeen years and was a member of the Army Rifle Team and Marksmanship Training Unit until his honorable discharge. Les graduated from North Carolina State University NCSU with a Masters Degree in Nuclear Engineering after his military service. While at NCSU, Les coached all of the university rifle teams, including the NCSU Rifle Team which was ranked the number one non-scholarship college rifle team in the nation for several years. Les also coached the Acorns Jr. Rifle Team in Washington D.C. while he was stationed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia and the Idaho Falls, Idaho, rifle teams while living there. Les was civically minded and was active in many organizations, including: The Boy Scouts of America Silver Beaver Award, MENSA, National Rifle Association life member, Republican Party State Convention Representative, Gideon's, Walk to Emmaus including the Chrysalis Program, and the Gospel Lights a music ministry. Les was most recently involved with his family, community, church, and other charitable organizations.
Les worked as a professional nuclear engineer in North Carolina, Idaho, and in Washington. As a Certified Heath Physicist, he worked at Hanford for the last twenty-two years until he retired in 2001. Les consulted privately for various governmental organizations until his death. He chaired the Part 1 Panel of Examiners of the American Board of Health Physics, the Continuing Education Committee of the American Academy of Health Physics, and the Health Physics Society Standards Committee Working Group on Radiation Protection Terminology. As a 'Fellow' of the Health Physics Society, he was also the International Standards Organization's United States Representative for radiation terminology.
Les was a former member of Central United Protestant Church in Richland and the Faith Assembly Church in Pasco, Washington. For the past twelve years, Les was a faithful servant at Bethel Church, Richland, where he served as an usher, a coach for the Second Wind, and was on the Missions Commission. He had a wonderful tenor voice and played banjo, mandolin, and guitar. Les played and sang at many church events and in retirement homes. He never slowed down and never wavered in his commitment to lead others to his Lord, Jesus Christ. His servant heart and unconditional love inspired every person he met. The twinkle in his eyes and his warm smile will be greatly missed by all that knew and loved him.
Les is survived by his children, Robert Charles Aldrich of Tulsa Oklahoma, Ann Martin Lambel of Richland Washington, Diane Marty Schweikert of Richland Washington, Linda Urias of Phoenix Arizona; thirteen grand-children: Lester III and Robert II Aldrich of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Kyle Aldrich-Lambel and Mary Lambel of Richland Washington, Bryn Tom Smith of Portland Oregon; Kisha Schweikert Ronnie of Coulee Dam Washington; Jennifer Schweikert Gio and Stephanie James Sams of Clarkston Washington; Deidra John Lybarger of Sandy Oregon; and Cynthia Schweikert, Kelsie, Kailee, and Jaimee Urias of Phoenix Arizona; and great-grandchildren: Malcolm and Madisyn of Coulee Dam Washington; Danae and Gio of Clarkston Washington; and Noah of Sandy Oregon. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lamar and Thora Aldrich; his sister, Marylou Aldrich Harn; and his loving wife, Shirley Melton Aldrich.
A Celebration of his life will be held at Bethel Church, at the corner of Keene and Shockley Roads, Richland, Washington, on Saturday, January 6th, 2006, at 11:00 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the American Heart Association, 140 S. Arthur St. Ste. 610, Spokane, WA 99202.
Dear Les Family,
I grieve with you the passing of your father, grandfather, great-grandfather, my friend, Les. But even as I grieve the loss on this earth, I rejoice that Les is once again with his beloved Shirley in the presence of our Lord.
I will be forever grateful to Les for his encouragement to me over the past ten plus years to take my old fiddle and mandolin and use them to sing praises to our Lord and Master. He encouraged to me to play with the Gospel Lights, to share the good news of Gospel Blue Grass with those living in the retirement and care facilities in the Tri-Cities. He tolerated my mediocre talents over those years as he helped me to develop those skills to sing our Masters praise. Without his encouragement, and the discipline of our Gospel Light performances around the area, my enjoyment and sharing of that joyous music would have likely remained dormant. This was his gift to me which I hope to continue to share.
I had the occasion to work many Walks with Les, both on song teams and in other capacities, and it was always a joy to share those experiences with him. His trust in the Lord and assurance that God had a place prepared for him was always an inspiration. I expect that he is now playing his heavenly banjo on heavens song team as he sings with Shirley and the angelic choir. He is indeed now a member of the Angel Band.
May God comfort you in your earthly loss, and give you peace in the assurance that Les is now in a better place. We will certainly miss him, but we look forward to our reunion in heaven.
Trusting in Jesus,
Leon Swenson
We shared many fun times at Woodbadge with Les and send our sincerist sympathies and best wishes to the family.
~ Don & Joyce Smith
Anne and Reobert and the rest of the kida. You have our sympathy. We knew Your Dad and Mon since Idaho Falls. An you knew two of our kids Teresa and Brandon. When you moved to the TriCities we were surpirised since we were coming here. Your parnets were the first to welcome us to the TriCities. We were staying at the Rivershore Inn.
We canme out to the service on Saturday AM. We were not dressed for a church event. I thought it was going to be informal and in the main part of the church.
Hang in there you all will be strong as you always are.
Best
Larry and Judy
My dad, Les, was a great leader and a firm shoulder for his friends and family. He truely believed that with God at the lead there was nothing we couldn’t do. I will miss him but I will never forget how much he enriched and shaped my life.
We lost a good man, but mom and heaven gained a great instrument for the heavenly chior. That is a place he had well dedicated his life to.
Dear Les Family,
I grieve with you the passing of your father, grandfather, great-grandfather, my friend, Les. But even as I grieve the loss on this earth, I rejoice that Les is once again with his beloved Shirley in the presence of our Lord.
I will be forever grateful to Les for his encouragement to me over the past ten plus years to take my old fiddle and mandolin and use them to sing praises to our Lord and Master. He encouraged to me to play with the Gospel Lights, to share the good news of Gospel Blue Grass with those living in the retirement and care facilities in the Tri-Cities. He tolerated my mediocre talents over those years as he helped me to develop those skills to sing our Masters praise. Without his encouragement, and the discipline of our Gospel Light performances around the area, my enjoyment and sharing of that joyous music would have likely remained dormant. This was his gift to me which I hope to continue to share.
I had the occasion to work many Walks with Les, both on song teams and in other capacities, and it was always a joy to share those experiences with him. His trust in the Lord and assurance that God had a place prepared for him was always an inspiration. I expect that he is now playing his heavenly banjo on heavens song team as he sings with Shirley and the angelic choir. He is indeed now a member of the Angel Band.
May God comfort you in your earthly loss, and give you peace in the assurance that Les is now in a better place. We will certainly miss him, but we look forward to our reunion in heaven.
Trusting in Jesus,
Leon Swenson
We shared many fun times at Woodbadge with Les and send our sincerist sympathies and best wishes to the family.
~ Don & Joyce Smith
Anne and Reobert and the rest of the kida. You have our sympathy. We knew Your Dad and Mon since Idaho Falls. An you knew two of our kids Teresa and Brandon. When you moved to the TriCities we were surpirised since we were coming here. Your parnets were the first to welcome us to the TriCities. We were staying at the Rivershore Inn.
We canme out to the service on Saturday AM. We were not dressed for a church event. I thought it was going to be informal and in the main part of the church.
Hang in there you all will be strong as you always are.
Best
Larry and Judy
My dad, Les, was a great leader and a firm shoulder for his friends and family. He truely believed that with God at the lead there was nothing we couldn’t do. I will miss him but I will never forget how much he enriched and shaped my life.
We lost a good man, but mom and heaven gained a great instrument for the heavenly chior. That is a place he had well dedicated his life to.
Ann and Family,
I am so sorry to hear of your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. May god wrap you in his arms.
I always loved grandpa through thick and thin.
I met Les back in 1984 at WoodBadge. He was a terrific person and I had a great respect for him. He and Shirley were a great couple. I will always remember the chance to sing Amazing Grace with several other scouters and Les playing guitar.
God Bless you all.
My thoughts and prayers are with you all. Les was a wonderful coach and an even better friend.
Guestbook for
Lester Kyle Aldrich II