{"id":198230,"date":"2020-02-08T12:00:30","date_gmt":"2020-02-08T18:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=198230"},"modified":"2020-05-01T14:15:30","modified_gmt":"2020-05-01T19:15:30","slug":"lester-les-leroy-matthews-fev-10-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=198230","title":{"rendered":"Lester “Les” LeRoy Matthews – Fev 10 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Proud Marine veteran, former police officer, successful business owner, and devoted family man, Lester \u201cLes\u201d LeRoy Matthews of South Haven, MN, died peacefully on February 10th, 2020 after a brief illness. He was 74.
\nHe was born on August 4th, 1945 in Jamestown, ND, the eldest son of the late Stephen LeRoy and Elizabeth Jane Matthews. He graduated from Jamestown High School in 1963 where he was a member of the basketball team and president of the science club.
\nHe immediately enlisted in the Marine Corps, serving as Corporal and Sergeant from 1963-1969, and would receive the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for his tour in Vietnam during one of the most heated periods of the conflict.
\nWhile stationed in the California Bay Area, in July 1965 Lester married Judith Eloise Baker with whom he shared a son, Lessie LeRoy, Jr., and a daughter, Mari Jane.
\nHe would later wed Olivia Ann Halioties in June 1970 in Vallejo, CA. The couple had two children, Audra Noel and Erik Stephen.
\nContinuing to follow his calling to serve and protect, Lester began his dream career as a police officer by day while pursuing his degree at night, receiving his B.A. in Criminal Justice from Golden Gate University in 1976. Over the course of his decorated two decades in law enforcement, he worked as a real-life \u201cCHiPs\u201d motorcycle cop with the Vallejo and Davis, CA Police Departments; Deputy with Napa County Sheriff\u2019s Department; Criminal Justice instructor at the University of Wyoming; and Chief of Police in Plentywood, MT.
\nIn the early 80s, he relocated back to his home state of North Dakota, joining his brothers Robert and Gary in the specialty home building products business. He moved his family to the Twin Cities in 1987 to further grow the company, and several years later branched out to form his own, Northland Cedar & Redwood, which he operated for 10 years.
\nHe retired in 2000, taking up a quiet life in the countryside of South Haven, MN, where he enjoyed bird watching, canoeing, tinkering in his garage workshop, and spending time with neighbors.
\nHe had lifelong love affair with the outdoors and was an avid hunter, fisherman and advocate for wildlife conservation as an active member of Ducks Unlimited. A born adventurer, he earned his airplane pilot\u2019s license in his younger years and remained a motorcycle enthusiast into his final years, frequently riding his Kawasaki Vulcan Nomad on military funeral routes with the Patriot Guard Riders, a veterans group dear to his heart.
\nHe was never without a dog by his side and is now reunited with his pride-and-joy Labrador Retrievers\u2014Princess \u201cSam\u201d Samantha, Cookie and Gracie\u2014who loyally and lovingly shared different stages of his life journey.
\nHe is preceded in death by his grandparents, Milo and Maude, on whose Oberon, ND farm Lester spent his childhood playing, working and exploring\u2014providing some of his most cherished memories; his beloved father, Stephen LeRoy; wife Judy; and firstborn son, Lessie, Jr., who tragically passed as a toddler\u2014a loss from which Les would never completely recover.
\nHe is survived by his stepmother Phyllis; brothers Bob, Gary, Dave, and Tim; sister Jan; wife Olivia; daughters Mari and Audra; and son Erik. He leaves behind four grandchildren\u2014Jessyka, Brenda, Jake, and Thomas\u2014and four great-grandchildren.
\nAbove all, Les leaves a legacy of uncommon kindness: known for his wide, toothy grin; genuine and approachable personality; and ability to make instant and lasting friendships with everyone he met.
\nDue to Covid-19 and related travel restrictions, Lester will be laid to rest on Friday, May 1st, in Sanborn, ND, in a private burial presided over by the Lerud-Schuldt-Mathias Funeral Home and attended by his siblings local to the area.
\nA formal memorial service to celebrate the life of \u201cPoppo\u2014The Man, The Myth, The Legend\u201d with a full gathering of family and friends will be rescheduled for late summer with details to follow.
\nIn lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Lester\u2019s honor to the Patriot Guard Riders at www.patriotguard.org, the Wounded Warrior Project at www.woundedwarriorproject.org, or a VA Medical Center near you at www.volunteer.va.gov\/apps\/VolunteerNow\/ \u2014 organizations Les passionately supported in their mission to heal and honor the military heroes with whom he was bonded in brotherhood, and to whom to we all owe so much.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Proud Marine veteran, former police officer, successful business owner, and devoted family man, Lester \u201cLes\u201d LeRoy Matthews of South Haven, MN, died peacefully on February 10th, 2020 after a brief illness. He was 74. He was born on August 4th, 1945 in Jamestown, ND, the eldest son of the late […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":198231,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-198230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obits"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=198230"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":198232,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198230\/revisions\/198232"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/198231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=198230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=198230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=198230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}