Lester John Dankert passed away on Feb. 27, 2012. Lester was born in Saginaw, on March 30, 1914. He graduated from Saginaw High, attended Bay City Junior College and graduated from Alma College with a bachelor's degree in chemistry. He then obtained his Ph.D in organic chemistry from the University of Illinois in 1940. During graduate school, he worked summers and the Christmas holidays at The Dow Chemical Co. and joined the company full-time after graduation. He originally worked in the Organic Semi-Plant and then transferred to the Patent Department in 1951 where he was a patent agent until he retired in July 1979. He and Betty were charter members of Trinity Lutheran Church in Midland where he taught Sunday School, served as treasurer and on the building committee for the present church. Lester was elected to the Midland Board of Education in 1955 and served for 12 years. He had the distinction of handing each of his four children their high school diploma. He also served as president of the Michigan Association of School Boards.

Lester and Betty moved to Cape Coral, Fla. after retirement where they were active in their church. After several years they elected to join a continuing care community called Gulf Coast Village where they were among the first group to move in. Lester served as the first chairperson of the residents council and on the building committee for the dementia unit called The Harbor. He used his considerable carpentry skills to enhance the facilities, including building a large aviary for the Care Center. He was the Gulf Coast Village historian keeping extensive records of persons moving in and out over the 13 years he lived there. Lester and Betty enjoyed traveling including trips to Alaska, Hawaii, Scandinavia and France and cruising through the Panama Canal.

Lester was a gentleman in every aspect of the word. He was unfailingly polite and courteous to everyone. Despite dimming vision and hearing, he remained the educated scientist that he was, with a mind that was sharp until the end. He was an inspiration to his family and friends with his ability to adapt to his changing circumstances and stay positive. He learned to use a computer and e-mail at age 70. He wrote an instruction manual for a friend of his when he upgraded his computer and gave her his old one. When he could no longer see to read comfortably, he switched to the Talking Books from the Library of Congress and "listened" as voraciously as he had previously read.