Bellwood, Lester R. 1920-2004

BELLWOOD, SMITH

Posted By: Linda Ziemann, volunteer (email)
Date: 1/4/2008 at 19:18:12

LESTER R. BELLWOOD, 83

Lester Raymond Bellwood of Evergreen, CO, died Feb. 24, 2004, from Parkinson’s disease.

Lester was born on May 5, 1920, in Akron to Dalton and Maude Bellwood.

Lester met Kathleen Smith on a blind date while they were in college at the University of Iowa. They were married in 1949, the year they graduated. They honeymooned in Colorado and decided to stay.

Lester studied premed in college but switched to theology. He earned two doctorates, one in theology and one in pastoral psychology while studying at Boston University and the University of Chicago. Kathleen became an occupational therapist and Lester went on to get degrees in theology at Denver’s Iliff School of Theology, where he later taught.

They moved to Atlanta where Kathleen was a therapist and Lester started doing counseling of alcoholics.

Lester, a minister, spent his entire career helping alcoholics. An estimated 100,000 of them. He also set up an alcohol treatment division at the Fort Logan mental health center in Denver. He worked at Harmony House, a treatment center in Estes Park and worked for years with the state’s DUI program.

It was common for him to take two-hour, middle-of-the-night phone calls from clients who were in crisis. His job gobbled up his time.

Nevertheless, Lester found time to help build the family home in Evergreen and taught his son a love for wood, tools and creating furniture.

In addition to his wife, Kathleen, and son, Tom, he is survived by a sister, Lucille Gale, of Algona, IA.

[Part of the Darrell E. Obituary Collection; Source: unknown newspaper]
~Note: There is a wonderful photo of Lester with this obituary.