GRANBURY — Roger Roland Lessard, 68, passed away in Fort Worth, Monday, Apr. 30, 2012, surrounded by his family and friends.
Memorial service: 2:00 p.m. Sunday, May 6, 2012, at Wiley Funeral Home.
Memorials: Tolar First United Methodist Church Building Fund.
Roger was born in Lewiston, Maine, to Olivia and Simone Lessard on June 30, 1943 and he started working at the age of 16. At the age of 19, he joined the U.S. Navy and served four years aboard two different ships. One ship was an oiler ship and the other ship was a reefer supply ship and on these ships he sailed around the world including a tour in Vietnam.
Roger worked different jobs before going into the trucking business at the age of 27. He moved to Fort Worth at the age of 33 and then to Granbury in 1979 where he started Lessard’s Gutter Service. He married Charlene Johnson in June of 1998 and sold his business in 1995 to retire to a life of travel and helping people in need. His greatest joy was doing for kids what he had missed when he was young, showing them love. Roger was a licensed pilot and took many kids on their first airplane flight which led many of them to become airline pilots. His greatest joy was seeing a young person smile only the way a young person can.
Roger was a Master Mason, Scottish Rite, York Rite, Shriner and and member of the American Legion. He received “Good for Hood” and numerous other awards for good deeds done. He built the first true fly-drive motor cycle and he loved to work more than anything else. Roger was involved in the Kaios Prison Ministry and was nicknamed, “Gizmo”, by the prisoners because he had so many big boy toys.
Roger loved his family, friends, dogs and church family, but most of all he loved his wife Charlene. He was preceded in death by his mother and father.
Survivors: Wife, Charlene Lessard; brothers, Joe and Donald Lessard; an aunt, two nieces and a nephew. Through his wife, Charlene, he developed a special father relationship with Lauri and Larry Baker as well as special grandfather relationship with Bradley and Alexis Baker, all of Granbury.
Wiley Funeral Home
Granbury, 817-573-3000