Lester Les Clayton Mott

Dad was born Lester Les Clayton Mott on Sept. 12, 1919, to Bernice and Harold Mott, in Gansevoort, N.Y. When he was 2 years old, Dad's parents, grandparents and he and his two older brothers, moved West by riding the immigrant train part of the way, and then driving a touring car the rest of the way on mostly dirt roads and camping for two weeks until they reached California.

Dad was the third of six sons. The boys helped on the family's various farms and dairies — the boys worked hard and played hard. Dad loved cars, and he loved telling of one, in particular — a souped-up Model A with a V-8 that he liked to drive rather fast. One day, he heard a police siren and realized they were after him, so he stomped on the gas and went flying down a road which also happened to have a bridge out over a canal. With the police in hot pursuit, Dad gunned the car and sailed across the canal — the cops weren't so lucky and ended up in the canal, "Of course," Dad would say in telling the story, "I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't have known the canal was dry."

After high school, Dad attended Cal Poly to pursue his dream of becoming an aeronautical engineer. While there, Dad met Cal Ingersoll, with whom he would later form a leveling business — Dad surveying, and Cal running the Cat. The two would remain lifelong friends who spoke to each other every week until Dad died. Dad also formed other lifelong friendships with childhood friends Ed Koda and Bob Walker. There is a picture of Dad, Ed and Bob at school dressed up in western gear for Sadie Hawkins Day. The boys are about 12 years old, and Dad is sporting a six-shooter strapped to his waist — yep, it was real!

During W.W.II, Dad tried to enlist, but very high arches and extremely wide feet kept him out of the service. So, he became a surveyor for the Army Corps of Engineers in Alaska and then at Hanford putting in roads. While working at Hanford, Dad met Lorraine Ingraham at a Benton City Grange dance. He swept her off her feet , and after a whirlwind courtship, they married on Dec. 25, 1943. It was so warm that year, everyone in the wedding picture is in short shirtsleeves and squinting in the sun.

The newlyweds lived in a small trailer, among hundreds of others, while he was surveying on the Hanford Reservation. There were no trees, but lots of blowing sand and heat.

It wasn't long before they moved to Bremerton, then on down to California, where Dad would buy into a dairy farm with his dad. Eventually, they sold the dairy, but farming seemed to be in Dad's blood, and he would go from a 40-acre farm in Clovis, CA, to an 80-acre farm in few miles down the road, where he grew oranges, wine grapes, alfalfa and cotton, and raised 250-head of sheep, some chickens, geese and one very mean burro. Dad said the burro was for packing deer out of the mountains in Utah when he went hunting, but that darn burro was too ornery to pack anything.

The couple would eventually have three daughters, Sherry, whom they adopted, and Kimberlee and Lori. Along with the farm, Dad worked fulltime for Edmond Gusti's huge farming industry 24 miles away in West Fresno, as the head diesel mechanic and foreman in the operation's shop. But, even the long hours couldn't squelch Dad's creative talent, and he invented more gadgets for around the house and farm than we could keep track of, though he never was interested in patenting them.

Some of us girls' favorite memories revolve around the many camping trips Dad took us on. Yosemite, only 90 miles from the farm, was one of the most frequented. Later, he would pitch his tent in campgrounds up on White Pass, especially Hause Creek, until it was ravaged by a forest fire.

In 1964, Dad sold the farm and moved the family to Kennewick. He really wanted to farm out in the Basin, but that was not to be. Instead, he went to work for L.W. Vail, and in March 1965, he bought a home on13 acres at the end of Kennewick's Ely Street. There were only three homes on the hill at that time.

When Dad began working for DeAtley's Superior Asphalt Company, he met and formed lasting friendships with Ron Hjaltalin and Dave Smoot. Dad's career in heavy equipment and mechanic spanned from 1941 - 84.

Eventually, Dad and mom went their separate ways, and Dad would meet and fall in love with Rose Black. They married in 1974, and spent their free time traveling around the US and the world — Australia, Fiji, China, Japan, Saipan, the Cook Islands and several times to Hawaii.

In his life, Dad survived a broken jaw and nose, the loss of one eye, back surgery, a knee replacement and a broken femur when he was 88 years old. But the loss of his beloved Rose in 2007, he never got over.

One of the guilty pleasures sisters Sherry and Lori gave Dad for the last three birthdays he celebrated, was the exquisite belly dancing of Karena. She was always able to get a smile out of him.

Dad was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Lawrence, Steve and Robert, and of course, his lovely Rose. Dad is survived by daughters Sherry Bill Emery, Kimberlee Mott, and Lori Mott; grandchildren Cynthia, Rene, Christopher, Lynne, Crystal, Aaron, Mellissa, Randy and Nathan; brothers Curt and John; eight great-grandchildren; stepdaughter Linda John Carr and stepson David Elsa Edgar, step-grandchildren Kim Howard Leeming and Gordon Kasey Edgar.

Viewing visitation will be this Friday, Oct. 15, from 5-8 p.m. at Einan's Funeral Home, located on the Richland Bypass Highway in the Sunset Memorial Gardens. The Celebration of Dad's Life will be held Sat., Oct. 23, at 10 a.m., with additional viewing immediately preceding, and the graveside service immediately following.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials for Dad be made to the American Heart Association.