Lester A. Garringer

Lester Alonso Garringer, Sr. known as Les to his many friends and family died on May 2, 2010 at age 88 after a long battle with cancer, in Tampa, Florida. He was preceded in death by his wife, Linda O. (Smiley) Garringer on May 11,1995 in Eustis, Florida. He was born June 12, 1921 in Westville, Oklahoma, the sixth child of Christopher Cornelius Garringer and Fannie Mae Burrows Garringer. Sadly his Mother passed away soon after giving birth and his Grandmother on his Mother’s side took him in. It wasn’t until he was 12 years old that he knew about his other brothers and sisters. When his Grandmother died he was sixteen years old and he left home to find work in various places such as the CCC camps, a canning factory, anything to pay his way until finally talking his way into the Navy. He served in the U. S. Navy during WW II and was on several battle ships that saw action in the Pacific arena. He was a Signalman by training and used flags and Morse code to communicate with ships and airplanes and rose to the rank of Senior Chief Petty Officer by his retirement in 1975 after thirty years of service. He was given several commendations and was Honorably Discharged after WW II, only to reenlist in the U. S. Navy for a second time when the Korean War began. He visited almost every European country and served during the Gulf War. During many shore duties he was assigned different positions, one of them being as an instructor in Communications for young Navy pilots at the Pensacola Naval Air Station. Some pilots thought they didn’t need Morse Code until they lost normal communications and then they were glad they knew it. His last assignment was on the U.S.S. Kennedy where he contracted lymphoma. Successful treatment at Bethesda Naval Hospital gave him almost 40 more years of living. He lived in Miami, Florida for over 23 years and after retiring from the Navy he worked for various trucking firms as a long haul semi-truck driver continuing the legacy of the constant traveler, until he retired in the late 80s. In 1993 he and his wife moved to Eustis after driving through town and falling in love with the area. After his beloved wife, Linda, passed away in 1995, he traveled the country visiting friends and relatives and putting thousands of miles on his many cars. He loved the open highway and would say that it was his therapy. He saw the wonders of every state with a ready camera at his side and his metal detector. While living in Eustis he met many wonderful people who became his extended family. They are so numerous it’s impossible to name them all, but thank you to Rita and her entire family at Casa Mia Cafe, his home away from home, Joe, Bob, Big Sue, Jasmine and all the breakfast club members, his nieces Wanda, her husband Dale, Sondra, and Juanita who made a special trip to see him during his illness, Susan Fehling who was a second daughter to him, Ruth, who called him often, and countless other friends and family. Your love and friendship meant the world to him and to us. He will be greatly missed and loved by his family and friends and is survived by his son, Lester A. Garringer, Jr, his wife Sharon, his grandchild, Lester A. Garringer, III, his step-grandchildren, Jennifer and Justin Wester, his daughter, Pamela Garringer Foster and her husband Robert K. and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and untold friends who were like family to him. We wish to thank the trips, the calls, cards and prayers you made, it meant more than words can say. As he journeys on we would like to share this poem and as they say in the Navy when a mate is called home to the Supreme Commander: “I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads his white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. He is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch him until at length he hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says: "There, he is gone!" "Gone where?" Gone from my sight. That is all. He is just as large in mast and hull and spar as he was when he left my side and he is just as able to bear his load of living freight to his destined port. His diminished size is in me, not in him. And just at the moment when someone at my side says: "There, he is gone!" there are other eyes watching him coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout: 'Here he comes!" And that is dying.” Henry Van Dyke In lieu of flowers please give to your local Hospice center. A Memorial service and luncheon to celebrate his life will be held on June 12, 2010, at 2:00PM at the Casa Mia Café Restaurant, located at 505 West Main Street, Tavares, Florida, (352) 742-9940. All those who knew him are invited. Please respond by June 10th to the restaurant. A flower placement and short prayer ceremony will take place at the cemetery at noon the same day. “The distant road is but a way to give me peace and therefore I drive to find it.” May you find wonderful roadways ahead, our dear sweet Dad.