It was suggested by my son, John, that I should write something about my dad. He was an awesome, social, adventurous, hard working alpha male. I will break him down in shorter writing chapters, if I can.Lester was born to Arlie and Blanche Conlisk in Sapulpa, Oklahoma in an Indian Tepee. Arlie was on site as a contractor and his p.g. wife was there with him too. Lester's parents taught him about love, and then they had incidents, that I figured were fights. Blanche said Arlie shook her one-time by the neck. Blanche left and went to visit her daughter and Arlie divorced her in about 1909. I have a letter to Blanche from the courts answering her inquiry as to whether Arlie had divorced her. I found this strange.
Arlie was a contractor and was very successful. He also had many talents [more later].
As Lester grew up, during those incidents, Lester was sent on train rides to visit other relatives. Lester was given a string with his destination around his neck, so the conductor would know when to put him off the train. Lester became known by lots of family members. He spent a lot of time in the summers with his grandfather George Conlisk and g-ma Emma on their farm near Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Lester also had many luxuries growing up, In Tulsa, Oklahoma, his dad Arlie built a 10-room house on a hill. Lester had a pet raccoon there. The raccoon lived in the tree. It was the biggest house in the neighborhood. Lester and his older sister Ilia were great pals, there was a bond between them.
In the cold winters men and women wore fur coats. He also bought new cars., In those days they were called things like Zephyr, Austin Martin, Duesenberg, roadsters, etc. Arlie was a very well educated man. He had music talents with most instruments. He was a a Realtor. He was an Attorney in seven states. He was a pilot. He was a contractor. He learned farming from his father-in-law and rode the wheat turbines from Texas up to Canada. He wrote poetry. He was a Medic in the Army during WWII. Arlie also was filmed in Long Beach, California doing tricks on a bi-wing plane. He worked hard and never stopped. He died during a construction job in San Manuel, Arizona. He and Lester buildt the entire city, including the kiln to harden the brick. On week-ends Arlie would sleep in the trailer parked in the long driveway at Lester's Tucson, Arizona house on Lester street.
During the depression, men worked digging ditches - if that is the only work there could get. The crash of 1929-31 was devistating to families in our country. Lester got several jobs, cything weeds or cane, digging ditches, whatever work was available. Lester decided to dig faster and because of his efforts he was paid more money. When most men were earning $6.00 a week, he was earning $9. Lester at age 16 decided to be a contractor like his father. He didn't have an education or degree for the trade. In those days, younger men were taken in by an older person and were trained as an apprentice. when my brother Sidney worked as an apprentice, it took four years of training.
Lester was courageous. He knew how to read a plan. In fact in his later years he was an architect and contractor - working days and nights to earn an income. Lester decided he could be a Foreman and work others who knew their trade. He applied for a big job. First a telephone company and later a hospital. These building took in blocks of area. He hired workers, had regular meetings, and walked throughout the entire structure daily, more than once, to be sure everyone was working and getting the job done right. He wore out 30 pair of shoes, by getting holes in the bottoms; he was successful and the buildings were finished. Once he had the reputation for building these two buildings, he began to tell businesses his name was Lester not Arlie. He was a shoe-in for future work and never had to worry about not having an income.
Lester had two ideas in his mind -- Work hard and play hard. He was a man's man. While in Austin, Texas he applied for the job of changing the light on the top of the state building. No one else applied, it was very dangerous. Plus, one had to go up many flights of stairs, walk out on the roof area and change the light using a long pole. Lester decided to make it fun. He walked backwards up the stairs, then he ran backwards up the stairs. He got the leg muscle strength to run backwards faster than anyone else could run forward. He challenged many persons for a foot race and he never lost. When he met Verna Buskel, she was a runner finalist in school. He challenger her and he won. She was embarrassed by his running backwards and because it offended her ego. She became his greatest cheering squad. They met when she was 14 years old.
Lester dated many women. He said the rich ones were too snooty and had no skills, for his was of life. Many rich ones wanted to marry him because he was such a hard worker, dressed well, drove fancy cars, and was a lot of fun. He wanted a woman to work beside him. His Granddad told him that the German women were hard workers too. Lester remembered that Verna was German and went back to date her again. They married when Verna was in Nursing School. They kept it quiet, as in those days a woman studying to be a Nurse was to be single-only-or they had to leave school. Verna graduated but never worked after they were married, except to give the neighbors shots and home medic service.
Lester's grandmother Emma lovingly instructed him to write her letters only in poetic form, choosing the cadence and banter with rhyming endings. He got very good at writing and he could toss in a few puns [that could be taken either way], just to get you 'going'.
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