Three-Sport WVU Standout Lester Passes Away
May 04, 2020 09:37 AM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Three-sport West Virginia University standout E. Roy Lester died early Sunday morning in Rockville, Maryland, according to a Facebook post made yesterday by his daughter Amy Lester Greco.
Lester, once Maryland's head football coach from 1969-71, was considered one of the most successful high school football coaches in Maryland history at Montgomery High in Rockville, where he posted an impressive 86-10-1 record that included six undefeated seasons in the 1960s.
Among Lester's standout players at Montgomery was All-Pro Baltimore Colts linebacker Mike Curtis.
He later returned to the prep ranks at Paint Branch and Magruder, where he won an additional 108 games and a pair of state titles in 1984 and 1986.
The Spencer native was an end on the Mountaineer football team for coaches Bill Kern and Dudley DeGroot from 1946-49, helping WVU to a nine-win season in 1948 that included a victory over Texas Western, later known as UTEP, in the 1949 Sun Bowl on Jan. 1 in El Paso, Texas.
He caught two passes for 30 yards in that 21-12 victory over the Miners.
Lester also hauled in a 79-yard touchdown pass from Jimmy Walthall in a big early season victory against Temple in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and led the team with 259 receiving yards.
As an outfielder on the WVU baseball team playing for coaches Charley Hockenberry and Steve Harrick, Lester batted .339 during his final two seasons and helped the Mountaineers to their first-ever NCAA Tournament berth in 1948.
He also appeared in 21 games on the basketball team over three seasons as a backup center.
After graduating from WVU with a degree in political science, Lester briefly played for the Philadelphia Eagles' farm team, the Patterson Panthers, in the old American Football League. He began his coaching career in 1950 with a two-year stint at Walton High in Walton, West Virginia, before moving to Allegany High in Cumberland, Maryland.
He also spent three years as a tight ends coach on Tommy Mont's Maryland staff and later returned to College Park as the Terps' head coach from 1969-71.
Lester was inducted into the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.
At 96, he was considered among the oldest living Mountaineer football alums at the time of his death.
Our condolences go out to his family.
Lester, once Maryland's head football coach from 1969-71, was considered one of the most successful high school football coaches in Maryland history at Montgomery High in Rockville, where he posted an impressive 86-10-1 record that included six undefeated seasons in the 1960s.
Among Lester's standout players at Montgomery was All-Pro Baltimore Colts linebacker Mike Curtis.
He later returned to the prep ranks at Paint Branch and Magruder, where he won an additional 108 games and a pair of state titles in 1984 and 1986.
The Spencer native was an end on the Mountaineer football team for coaches Bill Kern and Dudley DeGroot from 1946-49, helping WVU to a nine-win season in 1948 that included a victory over Texas Western, later known as UTEP, in the 1949 Sun Bowl on Jan. 1 in El Paso, Texas.
He caught two passes for 30 yards in that 21-12 victory over the Miners.
Lester also hauled in a 79-yard touchdown pass from Jimmy Walthall in a big early season victory against Temple in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and led the team with 259 receiving yards.As an outfielder on the WVU baseball team playing for coaches Charley Hockenberry and Steve Harrick, Lester batted .339 during his final two seasons and helped the Mountaineers to their first-ever NCAA Tournament berth in 1948.
He also appeared in 21 games on the basketball team over three seasons as a backup center.
After graduating from WVU with a degree in political science, Lester briefly played for the Philadelphia Eagles' farm team, the Patterson Panthers, in the old American Football League. He began his coaching career in 1950 with a two-year stint at Walton High in Walton, West Virginia, before moving to Allegany High in Cumberland, Maryland.
He also spent three years as a tight ends coach on Tommy Mont's Maryland staff and later returned to College Park as the Terps' head coach from 1969-71.
Lester was inducted into the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.
At 96, he was considered among the oldest living Mountaineer football alums at the time of his death.
Our condolences go out to his family.
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