Lester Hauldren

William Lester Hauldren, Jr., 98, longtime resident of Paola, died peacefully in his sleep, Sunday, February 15, 2015 at his home in Paola. The son of William Lester and Alzira May (Domeny) Hauldren, Lester, as he was known, was born July 29, 1916 at St. George, Kansas. He was the youngest of three children born to this union. He attended school in St. George and graduated from St. George High School in the class of 1934. In high school, he excelled in sports, playing basketball and competing in track and field. He was a gifted singer and competed numerous times with his peer from Westmoreland, Kansas, Frank Wiziarde, who later became known as Whizzo the clown and appeared on Kansas City and Topeka television stations from the 1950"s through the 1980"s. Lester was united in marriage to Genevieve Arnold on December 26, 1936 in Wamego, Kansas. To this union one daughter, Marilee was born on September 1, 1940 in Wamego. Genevieve died on February 13, 1942 at Corning, Kansas. Lester later married Alice Ann Barbara Russ on February 27, 1943. In addition to raising Lester"s young daughter, the couple welcomed two children to the union, Nancy Jo, born January 5, 1944 in Corning, Kansas and William Lester, III (Bill), born May 9, 1956, in Paola, Kansas. After graduating from high school, Lester joined his father in the newspaper business, operating newspapers in St. George, Havensville, and Louisville. In 1946, Lester and his family moved to Paola, Kansas where he became part owner of the Paola Advertiser which later merged with the Western Spirit. Lester, became an owner of the Sprit which merged with the Miami County Republican in 1956. The two newspapers were printed by the Miami County Publishing Company, with Lester as a part of the ownership structure, serving as Production Manager until his retirement in 1986. Following his retirement from the newspaper, he joined Bill and Lisa Hauldren at The Print Shoppe of Paola, Inc. where he continued to help with the day to day operation of the commercial printing facility for several years before retiring completely to devote time to caring for Alice who was battling emphysema. After Alice"s death in 1998, Lester moved from the family home on Peoria Street in Paola to a newly constructed three room apartment at the home of Bill and Lisa where he lived until his passing. Lester was an avid golfer, playing as many rounds each year as he could. He was a member of the Paola Country Club and was instrumental in helping develop the golf course into the facility it is today. He often told stories of spending long hours digging up rocks from the fairways and working diligently on the sand greens in the 40s and 50s to the conversion to grass greens in the 60s. He served several times as an officer on the Paola Country Club board of directors before selling his share in the club. He remained a non-voting member of the club until his death. Lester would golf whenever it was possible. He and his cronies would often spend Saturday and Sunday afternoons at the course, rain or shine. In the winter they would open the trunk of one of their cars, place their golf clubs in the trunk, and a second set of golf balls under the heater and play a round from the car rather than a golf cart. They would play the first four holes over and over so people driving by the course on the highway would not see them and think they were "crazy." Lester played the game well into his 90s and when his strength began to fail, he would drive his golf cart along with his friends, and play a "hole or two" just to keep up with the game. Lester battled some health challenges over the past few years, including a sextuple heart bypass surgery in 1999 and complete replacement of both knees over the following two years. But, even with those challenges, and through his failing health of the last few months, he never let it bother him and always lived his life to the fullest. He was very proud of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and always loved their visits whether they lived far away or just down the street. He enjoyed traveling and was fortunate to take many trips around the United States with Alice and then, after her passing, loved to spend some of the winter in Florida visiting Marilee. In addition to his grandchildren, Lester formed a special bond with the four foreign exchange students hosted by Bill and Lisa Hauldren. "Grandpa" Hauldren had a wonderful time learning about the cultures of the world from Ladapan Chokchaiyakul from Thailand; Andreas Ljungberg from Sweden; Christina Grosse from Germany and Francisca Raposo from Portugal. Lester was also active in the Boy Scouts of America serving in numerous adult leadership roles. He was awarded the Silver Beaver Award for his efforts in mentoring young scouts. Lester was preceded in death by his parents, his two sisters Eleanor (Hauldren) Blanka and Minnie Belle (Hauldren) Reid. He was also preceded in death by his first wife Genevieve (Arnold) Hauldren and his second wife Alice (Russ) Hauldren, and his daughter Nancy Jo (Hauldren) Dollar. Lester is survived by his daughter and son-in-law Marilee (Hauldren) and Jerry Hanshew of Two Rivers, Wisconsin, their three children Bryan and Tracy Miller, Ashley (Miller) and Taylor Swank and Justin Bedney all of Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; daughter Elizabeth Miller and Mark Cooper of Indianapolis, Indiana, Allison Weist, Montgomery, Alabama and Andrew Lewis of Auburn, Kansas; daughter Leslie Hanshew and Ron Groth of Mishicot, Wisconsin. He is also survived by his son and daughter-in law, Bill and Lisa Hauldren of Paola, their three daughters, Linzi and Erik Eyestone and daughter Lilly, Manhattan, Kansas; Erin and Dan Burkdoll and daughter Brynn, Melvern, Kansas and Lea Hauldren, Fort Worth, Texas. . The family suggests memorials be made to the Holy Trinity Parish Endowment. To leave a special memory of Lester or to leave condolence for lester please go to the share memory tab. Holy Trinity Catholic Church Service: Wednesday, February 18, 2015 at 10:30 AM Visitation: Tuesday, February 17, 2015 from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM