Leslie "Les" Teets Jr

     Leslie "Les" Teets Jr was born on 3 November 1929 in Upshur, West Virginia.^1,2,3,4 He was the son of Leslie Teets Sr. and Delphia Blanche Stansberry. Leslie "Les" Teets Jr married Barbara Jean "Bobby" Melton, daughter of Mont Clarence Melton Jr. and Ruth Ragina Marsh Cutright, on 20 October 1956 in Oakland, Garrett, Maryland. Leslie "Les" Teets Jr died on 16 August 2004 in San Marcos, Hays, Texas, at age 74.^1,2 He was buried on 20 August 2004 in Gustine, Comanche, Texas.²
      Leslie "Les" Teets Jr also went by the name of "Les." Leslie Teets, Jr. was born November 03, 1929, the youngest of four children - to Leslie Teets and Delphia Stansberry Teets. His place of birth was Buckhannon, West Virginia, which is located in the north central part of West Virginia. His older brother’s names were Dennis Billy and John Jay; his sister was Anna Lee who later adopted the name of Ann.

Leslie attended the East Main Street elementary school and graduated in 1947 from Buckhannon Upshur High School. While a student in high school he played football. He always strived to improve himself in education. At one point in his life, he selected a word from the dictionary each day, and in that way improved his vocabulary which he maintained in later years.

After high school he served in the National Guard of West Virginia and received an honorable discharge in September 1950. He attended West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, Marshall College in Huntington, West Virginia and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fairmont State College of West Virginia in August of 1951.

His reenlistment in the West Virginia National Guard resulted in a second honorable discharge January 1952. Following this service, he joined the United States Air Force at the height of the Korean War, also January 1952. He described his duties as varied, generally as clerical and administrative. During the course of three years, nine months he was stationed at Sampson AFB, Geneva, New York; James Connally AFB, Waco, Texas; Harlingen AFB, Harlingen, Texas; Johnston Island AFB: Pacific Theater; and West Palm Beach AFB, Florida, where he was honorably discharged with the rank of Staff Sergeant in October 1955.

Immediately upon being discharged, he was employed by Curry Chevrolet Company in Buckhannon, West Virginia, as a dealer management trainee. He was enrolled at General Motors Institute in Flint, Michigan, for two months; then discontinued this schooling to accept a full time position as a Chevrolet salesman for the company named above. His wife- to- be was employed by this firm as a bookkeeper. After being with this company one year, Leslie and Barbara (Bobby) Jean Melton were married and moved to Oscoda, Michigan, where for a short time, Leslie was sales manager for an Oldsmobile Dealer.

After touring parts of the Southwest, West and West Coast of the United States, Leslie and Bobby decided to settle in Arlington, Texas in March of 1957. Here he was employed by Vandergriff Chevrolet Company as a new car salesman until September 1958. He then made the decision to enter North Texas State College in Denton, Texas, and the teaching profession. In 1959, he and Bobby moved to Denton where later their first son, Ricky was born. Upon completing certification requirements in the field of business education in January, 1960, he was a substitute teacher in Lewisville and Dallas, Texas during the winter and spring of 1960. The following fall he was employed by the Stephenville, Texas Public Schools as Distributive Education Coordinator-Teacher for Stephenville High School. In 1961 his and Bobby’s second son, Todd was born. Leslie did a lot of extra-curricular activities with his students, often including the family on excursions. Something of note, he wrote an autobiography of his life up to that point. He wrote that his greatest inspiration was his mother. Through tough economic times, she was a wonderful wife, mother, housekeeper, cook, nurse, a good neighbor and more. He was especially impressed that over a period of ten years, when she could find the spare time, she crocheted an elaborate bedspread. He felt that her perseverance for her goals, inspired him to pursue his own goals of self-improvement through higher education.

In the summer of 1964, Leslie received an opportunity to become a manager of Sears Catalogue Stores. He trained for a few months at various stores in south Texas while he and the family awaited the birth of Meri in September. Prior to Meri’s being born in Seguin, Texas, Leslie had received an assignment as manager of a store there. While living and working in Seguin, he supervised the building of a new store, and was also manager of stores in nearby towns. In July of 1967, he was transferred to Alice, Texas, where he again was instrumental in having a new store built.

In the summer of 1970, Leslie went to work for Houston Natural Gas Distribution as a sales representative for the Gulf Coast Division. He and the family lived in West Columbia, Texas for two years until a promotion to corporate headquarters in Houston, resulted in a move to northwest Houston. One year later, Leslie accepted the position of manager of a gas company office in El Campo, Texas. He also oversaw neighboring small towns as manager. Later, he was employed as a district manager. During the years he managed stores and offices, he was a member of the Jr. Chamber of Commerce in Stephenville, the Lions Club in Seguin and Chamber of Commerce in El Campo. His and Bobby’s children did most of their growing up in El Campo; then eventually left for college and other pursuits. In the early 80’s, Leslie commuted to a district office in Richmond, Texas, where he was a natural gas consultant for Entex, Inc. He arranged to have natural gas installed into new subdivisions as they were being built. In 1983, he and Bobby moved to Richmond where they lived until 1993. In 1987, Leslie took early retirement at the age of fifty eight years. February 1993, he and Bobby moved to Marble Falls where they both enjoyed a year and a half of retirement. They then decided to go back to their home town of Buckhannon, West Virginia, to help care for family members. They returned to Texas in April of 2001 where they lived in Seguin, thirty four years after they had lived there in the 1960’s. Leslie’s health was declining and he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in October, 2001. March 2002, they moved to San Marcos to a retirement community, in order to be near their son, Todd. Because of Leslie’s illness, he entered Hays Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and later to Care Inn of San Marcos, in November of 2003.

Thus far, I have stated the statistics of Leslie’s life. In addition to his growing up days, education, military service and jobs, he led a most interesting life. In his boyhood days, he loved the outdoors. He liked to fish, hunt and swim. He loved to visit his grandparents who gave him the experience of seeing grain ground at a mill. To get to the mill, he rode a farm horse. They transported the grain with a wagon. He inherited a pie cupboard made of walnut that his grandfather built. The grandfather also built a youth size bed that still has the original bolts to hold the frame. Leslie had fond memories of both sets of grandparents. While he and Bobby were in West Virginia during the 1990’s, they visited the old home place of his great grandfather. The summer of 1998, they helped organize a family reunion of the descendants of his great grandfather Stansberry. Leslie helped relatives make up photo and family history packets to be given to each family who attended the reunion. More than a hundred people enjoyed the weekend reunion, many of them having traveled great distances from various parts of the United States. There was much reminiscing of being in Buckhannon as children visiting their relatives.

Over the years of being in college and the military, Leslie made many friends with whom he stayed in touch. In traveling the different states and having the many jobs, he and Bobby met people from all walks of life. While on Johnston Island in the Air Force, Leslie taught himself photography and learned developing of photos. He snorkel dived for sea shells which have graced their homes ever since. When the children came along, he taught his love of fishing, hunting, camping and hiking to the boys. Meri and Bobby went along on several of the camping trips and went to deer camp a few times. One of Leslie’s hobbies was tying flies for fishing. He also was a stamp collector for a few years. He loved to travel and did a great deal of it. He made trips to Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, California, Big Bend, Texas; Florida, West Virginia and points in between. People who made these trips with him were his and Bobby’s eldest son, Ricky, a great nephew, Robert, a close friend, Jack, and Bobby’s Uncle Charley. at different times. He and Bobby also traveled to Big Bend National Park in Texas with Leslie’s sister, Ann, her husband, Gene and Uncle Charley. They all had lots of fun traveling in an S-10 Blazer for a week. They did some hiking and sightseeing in general. In June of 1989, he and Bobby had a memorable camping trip in Colorado; they toured the Royal Gorge in Colorado Springs, old mines, ghost towns, fished the many streams and visited some good friends in Grand Junction. In later years, his greatest joy was driving the back roads in Texas and West Virginia in his S-10 Blazer. While in West Virginia, he got re-acquainted with a cousin, Eugene, who helped him repair a small family cemetery. He liked to be with older people and was very interested in genealogy. He acquired a journal that one great grandfather had written while building a church. He spent time with relatives who could remember much of what happened in the family during their lifetimes. From the time he could use a camera, he was the family photographer. He photographed wild life and the flora and fauna of wherever he happened to be. The years he and Bobby were in West Virginia he spent two winters filling photo albums from more than fifty years of saving the photos. Leslie and Bobby have three children, Ricky, Todd and Meri; eleven grandchildren, Kira, Jeremiah, Josh, Justin, Jared, Kelsea, Jacob, Danen, Joey, Kayti and Nikki and one great- grandson, Colt. They were also blessed to have a godchild named Hope. For a period of time, they had the care of her as a six month old baby who grew into a toddler. Leslie, Bobby and the family enjoyed many happy hours of teaching her to eat, walk, and play. Hope traveled with them to the beach or to visit friends. Sometimes Hope’s siblings, Ann, Dawn and Neal stayed with Leslie and Bobby, as long as a week. Leslie also had many nieces and nephews who loved to spend time with him.

Leslie was a very active person. He and Bobby started walking in El Campo before it was "cool" They continued to walk in West Virginia, often in the snow. He liked the snow and the autumns when the leaves on the trees changed color. He liked to garden and raised tomatoes that supplied the neighborhood. He liked to have their homes neat with lawns mowed and garages that would actually hold cars instead of junk. He was proud of the fact that he and Bobby had owned and maintained six homes in Texas. He always took good care of the cars; spent many hours cleaning and polishing them. He was good to help older people who lived alone and needed things done for them. While in West Virginia, he and Bobby liked to have friends and family members come to visit so that they could take them sightseeing. One summer they had four of their eleven grandchildren and son, Todd to stay for a week. They took them to many scenic places in the state.

Leslie had a special friend who owns a working ranch in Gustine, Texas. He very much enjoyed being with David and helping with chores on the ranch. He learned things about raising cattle, repairing and building fences, irrigation, the crops that are grown in Comanche county. He and David and family, often with Bobby, and their family, enjoyed many hours together, whether visiting, ranching or even camping in their younger days.

Leslie led a full, productive life, had many friends and relatives who will keep good memories of him. He was proud of his education, serving in the military and of always moving forward in his endeavors. When his children were young, he loved taking them on trips, whether hunting, camping or traveling. He always had interesting things for them to do. The grandchildren will remember riding in the Blazer, going swimming with him, sightseeing, fishing, touring caverns, a coal mine and many other activities. In the seventy four years of his life he was known as Leslie, Junior. Les, Daddy, Dad, Teets or Pa-Pa. He will most certainly be missed by all of his loved ones.⁵ He appeared on the 1930 Federal Census of Buckhannon, Upshur, West Virginia, in the household of his parents, Leslie Teets Sr. and Delphia Blanche Stansberry.³ He appeared on the 1940 Federal Census of Buckhannon, Upshur, West Virginia, in the household of his parents, Leslie Teets Sr. and Delphia Blanche Stansberry.⁴ Leslie "Les" Teets Jr lived on 8 May 1998 in Buckhannon, Upshur, West Virginia.⁶ Found a plaque that Les received in Seguin at American Legion; has his dates of service in Korean War- he never saw war duty; was a staff sergeant for US Air Force in Waco, Harlingen and Johnston Island in the South Pacific. Think he did clerical duty mostly in the states; on Johnston that was ,I think, a mile long and 1/4 mile wide, he was billeting officer. Johnston was a fuel stop for military planes; often servicemen's families were with them; Les was responsible for providing them a place to stay, usually overnite. he did a lot of snorkel diving for fish and shells and photography to keep himself occupied when off duty. In Waco, there was a terrible tornado; he had been lifequarding at the pool; had to call everyone out due to weather. Later he helped clean up after the storm. I have pictures of his diving activities and color slides of his photography of the island. One time for R & R, he went to Hawaii for 2 weeks; I have wonderful slides of that trip. He had a great time touring the islands those 2 weeks. DATES OF SERVICE: Jan 1952 to Oct 1955 I met him Christmas Eve 1955 at Curry Chevrolet in Buckhannon. He was sponsored by Mr. Curry for a 2-year course at General Motors Institute in Flint, Mich. He was to go to school in Flint for 2 months, then go to the dealership and do hands on training for 2 months. These were to be alternated 2 months in Flint, 2 months at Curry's. During his training, he decided to become a saleman at Curry's . Long story, if you have interest, I can tell you more Bought his first car in Waco, new. Pontiac convertible.⁷