James L. Lester Jr. (January 12, 1932 – February 17, 2020) was an American politician. He served as a Democratic member for the 23rd district of the

Georgia State Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. The Georgia State Senate and the lower house of the General Assembly, the Georgia House of Representatives, comprise the bicameral leg ...

Life and career

Lester was born in

Richmond County, Georgia Richmond County is located in the state of Georgia in the U.S. As of the 2020 census, the population was 206,607. It is one of the original counties of Georgia, created on February 5, 1777. Following an election in 1995, Augusta (the count ...

, the son of Elizabeth Miles and William McMorris. He attended Richmond Academy and

The Citadel The Citadel Military College of South Carolina (simply known as The Citadel) is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges ...

, graduating the latter in 1952. After graduating, Lester served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

. He was discharged in 1954, after which he attended the

University of Georgia School of Law The University of Georgia School of Law (Georgia Law) is the law school of the University of Georgia, a Public university, public research university in Athens, Georgia. It was founded in 1859, making it one of the oldest American university law ...

, where he earned his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree in 1957. In the midst of his educational journey, he fell in love with a well educated, fierce red headed woman, her name, Gwendolyn. In 1958, no time was wasted. The Lester’s had two boys, Frank & Jimmy Jr. Lester worked with his father at a

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

. In 1971, he was elected to represent the 23rd district of the

. Lester served until 1985, when he was succeeded by Frank Albert. Lester died in February 2020, at the age of 88.

References

1932 births 2020 deaths People from Richmond County, Georgia Democratic Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators University of Georgia School of Law alumni The Citadel alumni 20th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly {{GeorgiaUS-politician-stub