We all know that it matters where you came from and who you came from. And Leslie Arthur Woller Jr. came from a dairy farm in Fon du Lac, Wisconsin on June 17, 1940 and died doing his morning chores on November 15th, 2022. A whole life was lived between those two dates. Some might even say a few lives were lived in his 82 years.
Leslie Woller Sr. and Regina Brazier had one son, and frankly, that was enough. This one son grew up shooting hoops on the farm and doing chores before the sunrise. He always talked about going to a one room schoolhouse and what it was like being the country bumpkin at the big city high school. But this was when his many talents began to emerge. His love for competitive sports was first expressed through tennis and basketball. He learned so much about life on both of these courts and those lessons served him well as he went to college and then on to honorably serve in the U.S. Navy. All of these experiences were the foundation for a memorable adult life.
Les was a purposeful person. He never assumed that things should come easy and he was a consummate learner and an incredibly hard worker. These values served him well as he left the military and went into the corporate world. Les’s work became the playground for so much of his development as a person. He would always look back on this time and the birth of his firstborn son, Joel, and see the great goodness and providence of God in his life.
But the businessman still subtly believed that success was found in climbing the corporate ladder. And that’s about the time when the love of his life walked into a Milwaukee bar. Shortly thereafter, Les and Mary Lee married and started a family together and went on to have three kids: Mike, Tracy, and Jamie.
Les and Mary Lee have never been the type to play it safe. The life they shared was marked by growth and the willingness to take chances. And both of them would say that the best choice they ever made was to start following Jesus together. Les had a deep love for God, his wife, his children, and he was a person who was growing until the very last day of his life.
We hope everyone can join us in celebrating his amazing life on Saturday, November 26th at 3:30 pm. The Celebration of Life will be held at Forerunner Christian Fellowship (Grandview, Missouri) and food and drink will be served afterward.