Lt Col Clarence R Hester

Clarence Hester, a retired Sacramento roofing contractor who saw combat as an Army paratrooper during World War II, died Tuesday at 84. The cause was complications from kidney failure, said one of his daughters, Lynne Hester Finney. The Shasta County native was reared in Tehama County and graduated from Red Bluff High School in 1934, the same year he moved to Sacramento. While attending Sacramento Junior College, he worked as a night attendant at W.F. Gormley & Sons mortuary. Before enlisting in the Army in 1942, he was an appliance salesman for the old Hale Brothers department store in Sacramento. Mr. Hester was a member of Company E of the 506th Parachute Regiment, a legendary outfit that was the subject of a 1992 book, "Band of Brothers," by Stephen Ambrose. As a paratrooper, Mr. Hester jumped during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944, and again in Operation Market-Garden in Eindhoven, Holland, on Sept. 17, 1944. He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart for his role in the Battle for Bastogne. Company E was an outfit "that took 150 percent casualties, a company where the Purple Heart was not a medal - it was a badge of office," Ambrose wrote in "Band of Brothers." In 1946, after achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel, Mr. Hester left the Army and returned to Sacramento, where he got a job with the Yancey Co., selling insulation and roofing supplies throughout Northern California. Eventually, he became the firm's sales manager. One of his wartime pals, Lewis Nixon, owned farmland on Ryer Island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and in the 1950s asked Mr. Hester to manage the properties, a part-time job he carried out for several decades, his daughter said. In that role, Mr. Hester served as a trustee of Reclamation District No. 501 and a board member of the North Delta Water Agency. At 56, an age most when people are thinking about retiring, Mr. Hester left his full-time position with Yancey and started his own business, Hester Roofing Co. "He never rested on his laurels, I'll tell you that," his daughter said. "He was very humble and didn't toot his own horn at all." He ran the roofing company until he was 76, when he sold it to some of the original employees, his daughter said. Mr. Hester was a member of numerous organizations, including the Rotary Club of Sacramento and Washington Lodge No. 20, Free & Accepted Masons. He also was founding scoutmaster of Boy Scouts of America Troop 404. He is survived by his wife, the former Elizabeth Burress, whom he married July 17, 1948. Other survivors include a son, Thomas W. Hester of Woodbridge; daughters, Jill Hester and Lynne Hester Finney, both of Sacramento; brother, Richard L. Hester of Sacramento; sisters, Bertha Ronlake of Charlotte, N.C., and Edna Froman of Alameda; and four grandchildren. A memorial service is set for 1 p.m. Thursday at W.F. Gormley & Sons, 2015 Capitol Ave.Clarence Hester The capital resident began his roofing business when many people are entering retirement.

• Reference: U.S. Social Security Death Index (SSDI) - SmartCopy: Dec 26 2018, 14:52:49 UTC
• Reference: California Births, 1905 - 1995 - SmartCopy: Dec 26 2018, 14:53:14 UTC
• Residence: 1920 - Delta Township Kennett Town, Shasta, California, USA
• Race: White
• Ethnicity: American
  • Reference: 1920 United States Federal Census - SmartCopy: Dec 27 2018, 0:54:50 UTC
• Residence: 1930 - Red Bluff, Tehama, California, USA
• Race: White
  • Reference: 1930 United States Federal Census - SmartCopy: Dec 27 2018, 0:59:27 UTC