Oscar Lester

Thomas Oscar Lester

February 28, 1935 - August 4, 2021
 

Thomas Oscar Lester, affectionately known as Oscar or “OT”, departed this life on Wednesday, August 4, 2021 at Shadyside Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was born on February 28, 1935 – as the fifth of six children – to the late John Sr. and Lillie (Holmes) Lester in Patton Township, Pennsylvania, and was affectionately named after his grandfathers, Thomas Holmes and Matthew Oscar Lester. At an early age, he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, and became a member of St. John Baptist Church in Wilmerding. Over the years, he also attended Central Baptist Church in Pittsburgh and, in 2019, joined Liberty Baptist Church in Braddock, under Reverend Berkley.
Oscar attended Wilmerding schools, and was a standout football star at Wilmerding High School, from which he graduated in 1953. After high school, he moved to Connecticut to further his education — living for a short time with his sister, Dorothy, and her family. He earned an Associate’s degree in Mechanical Technology from the State Technical Institute, and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Hartford in Hartford, Connecticut.
 

Oscar was a skilled draftsman and his work on an apartment project in Connecticut was recognized in the Hartford Courant newspaper. Upon returning to Wilmerding in the early 1970s, he joined his parents and brothers in the family businesses, including First General Services and LilJohn Builders. He was actively involved in local real estate development, and owned and managed numerous properties in Wilmerding and Monroeville. One of his most notable projects was an interior and exterior redesign of several apartment units along State Street and Watkins Avenue in Wilmerding that still exist today. In later years, he worked as a security officer at Southwestern Health Center in Pleasant Hills, PA.
Oscar never married and had no children, but was known as the fun, playful uncle to his nieces and nephews. He was also a hard worker and always had building plans on the drafting board in his office. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his siblings: Evelyn Lester Bell, John Lester, Jr., Alvin Holmes “Knobby” Lester, and Donald Lamon Lester; nieces and nephew, Judy and Gregory Lester and Jeanne Fogg Lovell; brother-in-law, Wilbert Fogg; and sisters-in-law, Geraldine Lester and Vivian Audrey Lester. 
 

He leaves to cherish his memory: a sister, Dorothy Lester Fogg of Madison, VA; nieces, Diane Banks of Monroeville, PA; Cathryn Fogg-Suggs of McLean, VA; Leslie (Terry) Fogg Bowie of Silver Spring, MD; and Linda Lester of Irwin, PA; a nephew, Wayne (Karen Lankford) Fogg of Wallingford, CT; multiple generations of great-nieces and nephews; close friends, Lois Williams, Mary Ann Howard, John Moore, Roy “Shorty” Watson, and Kevin Brown; and a host of other friends. 
 

Please join the family for a graveside memorial service for OT at 12:30 pm, September 17, 2021, at Restland Memorial Park.  Please visit us at www.alfierifuneralhome.com for online condolences. 
 

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