James Francis Lester
March 19, 1953 ~ September 1, 2022
Graveside Services will be held 2 PM Tuesday at Fargo National Cemetery.
There will be a chaplain present and Military Honors will be provided by the Fargo Memorial Honor Guard and the United States Marine Corp.
A Funeral Procession will leave Boulger Funeral Home at 1:30 PM Tuesday September 13, 2022
Everyone is welcome at this service and for those not wanting to go in procession, they may meet us at the cemetery at 1:55 PM.
National Cemeteries are very punctual, so the service will start at 2:00 PM and will conclude by 2:15 per their regulations.
Everyone is invited to a Celebration of Life Gathering that will be held at 12:30 PM Tuesday – prior to the burial – at the Richie Law Firm office which is located at 203 South 8th Street in Fargo.
Please call the funeral home if you have any further questions.
Services
James practiced law in my building from 1987 until the building closed in 2018, He was an expert in Civil War history. Rest in peace.
Jim “Loop” Lester was in law school when I was an undergrad. The guy was hilarious. There is no one with a wittier sense of humor. We called him Loop, short for loophole. That nickname became Lupe, French for wolf, thanks to Loop’s friend Joe Dostie. I hope Loop and Terry K (Knoepfle) are having a great time catching up. Rest In Peace, Loop.
I was sorry to hear of Jim’s passing. His office was in the same building as the firm I started practice with in 1997. Always a decent guy. RIP Jim.
We are so sorry to hear about Jim’s passing. Family and friends are in our prayers.
Dan & Lisa
Jim was my classmate and friend from the UND Law school class of 1981. He was an integral member of our pack of guys from the group that was referred to by my female colleagues, I believe with great affection, as the goon squad. Jim was the eldest member. He had been in the Marines and brought with him a healthy dose of skepticism of those in authority. His exploits were legendary in school. I have so many great memories of laughing with him. I do not remember a single time that was upset or angry about much of anything. He sat back and offered his take on some of the foolhardiness of law school and of life in general. I will miss him.
I recently had two cases with Jim; one of which went to a jury trial. Found him to be a very straight shooter, and a great guy. He was a little quirky, but we need all types of characters in this world to keep things interesting. RIP Jim.
Too soon, Jim. Rest in peace.
James “Loophole” Lester was one of the great characters in my law school class of 1981. He will be missed. Rest in Peace fellow Goon.
I met Jim about 35 years ago when he moved into Shepard’s office building. Jim never missed a day. We used to run 5 miles on our lunch hours from Courts Plus. He was witty. He will be missed.
After not seeing Jim since law school graduation, I stopped in Fargo and had lunch with him a couple of years ago . . . same old “Loophole”. He is not one I would have expected to leave so soon. As an original member of the “goon squad”, I remember a lot of quirky “Loop moments”. My favorite memory was when I picked him up Labor Day Weekend of our second year to go canoeing in the Boundary Waters for the weekend. Loop (the ex-Marine) came out of his apartment wearing pants and a tee shirt. He had absolutely nothing else with him. I asked if he had forgotten anything. He said “Oh, yeah” and ran back to his apartment. He came out with a thin “windbreaker” jacket. The ex-Marine was perfectly prepared to spend the entire weekend in the woods with nothing but a windbreaker! So, off we went and he never complained about a single thing . . . even when it rained. Loop, clearly you have someplace else you need to be right now. Godspeed!
I went to law school with Jim and was sad to learn of his death. He always kept things interesting and had a great—sometimes unusual —outlook on life and lived it with a smile on his face. Rest in peace.
I probably wasn’t a “goon” in law school with Jim, but we were fellow veterans–there were about ten of us ‘old GI’s’ in our class and we usually bristled at the attempts at authority the law faculty tried to impose on us! Haven’t seen Jim for several years–hard to believe that we are all getting old enough to be reading obits about our old friends. RIP, Jim–From an old Air Force guy, all I can say, Jim is “Semper Fi”!!
Tom Moe
He will be missed.
I have so many memories of Jim “Loop” Lester from that wild summer of 1980 on Hamline Street in Grand Forks as well as over the next couple years when he was in and out of our house up the street. I will never forget the sight of him careening through the streets around UND in that fabulous green Monte Carlo (circa 1978? Fabulous). Loop was a character, someone you never forget, someone who was so kind and who had the capacity to keep everyone laughing. I hate to see his time on earth cut too short, but it’s clear he continued to do good and to spread good cheer while he was here.
Please tell me he still didn’t have that car- I road many miles between bars in GF in that beast in Law School.
Tom Knutila
Sorry to hear of James passing.RIP
Jim was a good friend of my late husband. We visited him in Fargo many times, and I don’t think we ever stopped laughing. Jim had a great sense of humor and he was so interesting to talk to. I am sad to see that he is gone. RIP Jim.
Just found out about Jim’s death. Way too early. He was the primary reason I survived for 2 years in Grand Forks. We had both been out of school for a few years, and neither of us were contenders for valedictorian or a book award. Maybe that’s why we became fast friends. As with most of my classmates, I lost touch after graduation as I left North Dakota, never to return. Sorry I lost contact with Jim- we had lots of good times and laughs. RIP.
It was obvious you were well respected and well liked by your colleagues.
Rest in peace Jim.