Jerry Curtis Lester

Jerry Curtis Lester, 87, of The Villages, Florida, died December 21, 2023 of dementia.

He was born June 27, 1936, in Montgomery County Virginia, to Annie Simmons and James Curtis Lester. Brothers Fredric and David were born, 2 and 9 years later. He grew up in Portsmouth and Chesapeake, Virginia, attending Deep Creek High School in Chesapeake.

He married Bettie Kay Turney, January 15, 1955, just 6 months after graduating from high school. They had been high school sweethearts and remained so until his death, 69 years. They had two children Cheri and Curtis, six grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.

He was a good student, graduating Salutatorian in his high school class and at the top of his Civil Engineering class at Virginia Tech. He was inducted into college honorary societies, Phi Kapa Phi, Tau Beta Pi, and Chi Epsilon.

He worked as a Cooperative Engineer at Norfolk Naval Shipyard while earning his Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and Bettie worked, as well, to help pay their way while he went to school. Bettie’s employment was terminated just one month before Jerry graduated by birth of daughter Cheri Lynn in May 1959, while they resided in Christianburg, Virginia. Son, Curtis Turney was born in April 1963, after the couple had moved from Middleton, Ohio, to Newport News, Virginia. Jerry had worked one year at Armco in Middleton before leaving for a job in the Atomic Power Division at Newport News Shipbuilding in 1960. He retired from the Shipyard in 1994 after 34 years, but continued to work at Shipyard as a contract employee for another six years.

While at Shipyard, Jerry was instrumental in the design of the structural supports for the NIMITZ Class reactor plant equipment. The Navy had invoked a new, more complicated design method to ensure the supports would withstand underwater explosions. This method required techniques not previously used, and Jerry developed methods to implement the requirements. This put him in the position of being solely capable to perform the design. He considered this to be the defining achievement of his career. He went on to supervise submarine structural design and manage design work for the nuclear refueling of ENTERPRISE and NIMITZ-Class aircraft carriers.

After retiring, he moved to Florida in January 2001. He enjoyed golfing, fishing & electronics.

A Celebration of Life will be held February 10, 2024 at Pimlico Recreation Center, 530 Belvedere Blvd. from 12:00pm to 3:00pm