Lester celebrates with a large crowd of well-wishers at his 90th birthday party at the Suffield Senior Center in 2017.
It’s hard to include in one article all the many aspects of the man who was Lester Smith. He had lived in Suffield for 70 years and was a well-known and well-respected part of the greater community. He was a dedicated and involved volunteer in many town organizations including the Friends of the Library, Boy Scout Troop 260, the Suffield Historical Society, the King House Museum and The Suffield Observer. He was designated Town Historian in 1997 and served as an important and knowledgeable source of Suffield history for many, many years.
For the Observer, Lester was the consummate reporter. He started at the paper shortly after Sam Fuller got it up and running in 1999 and was soon writing about town events. Early on, Lester’s avid interest in town history led to a section of the Observer titled The Way We Were. Starting in 2001, this section included 100 Years Ago which gave us a newsy look into town business a hundred years in the past. In 2003, A Moment in Time, a photographic memory of Suffield’s past, became a monthly part of the paper. Both continue today 25 years later.
Lester was friendly and interested in what was happening around town and covered a wide variety of events including school plays and musical productions, dedications, political events and the many construction project details he enjoyed sharing with the public. Lester was well known about town, recognizable by his engineer’s cap, little red car and ever-present camera.
He was successful at composing clear and balanced articles, especially when it came to more sensitive town issues. He was a stickler for accuracy and could and did drive us all a little crazy with that push for perfection (and we miss that). He was also very particular about making deadlines for articles, photos and captions. He regularly stayed working at the Observer office until the wee hours before a deadline.
Lester’s skill with a camera was also a boon for the paper, as many issues included his excellent photographs. Lester took great pride in getting unique shots for the readers to enjoy, sometimes putting him in some precarious positions. He taught us how to be creative with photos and precise in laying them out. He abhorred cookie cutter and/or group pictures. He wanted photos with action and fun angles.
People would call specifically asking for Lester to cover an event, and he would be there in a heartbeat. He said that one of the best times in his life was riding in the Observer truck at the 350th parade and everyone yelling “Lester”.
At one point, Lester contributed probably a third of the paper, between his articles and his photography. By our count over the past 25 years, he contributed over 3,500 submissions to the paper. So, while we miss his contributions, we miss the man more.
A memorial service will be held in Lester’s memory at Second Baptist Church on Saturday, October 19 at 2:30 p.m.