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October 12, 2004
102-year-old Heart
Hasn’t Missed a Beat
Oklahoma
City—Next month, Ervis Lester will turn 103. Considering that he had a
triple heart bypass and valve replacement just a few years ago, it’s
hard to believe that the Rush Springs centenarian rides his stationary
bike 30 minutes every day, spends hours each day on business and
personal correspondence and still drives himself to town.
This past week,
Lester got another good bill of health when he went in for his biannual
visit to the Oklahoma Heart Hospital.
“He’s as sharp
as a tack,” said Dr. Robert Kipperman, an Oklahoma Cardiovascular
Associates cardiologist with the Oklahoma Heart Hospital. “He’s a
testament to older patients that if you are in good health, you can
still undergo major surgery and have lots of living left to do.”
Lester, too, is
surprised that he has always had such good health. “Ordinarily, a person
in their late 90s doesn’t have heart operations,” he said. “But they
told me that I’m no ordinary person. I’m not sure about that, but I am
very thankful for the years that I have had.”
Lester is
active in his local Lions Club, as well as his church. Besides keeping
up with his own affairs, he subscribes to many publications including
American Enterprise, U.S. News & World Report and Forbes.
Born November
12, 1901, Lester graduated from Rush Springs High School in 1921 and
went to The University of Oklahoma after that. After making a move to
California, Lester served as the deputy chief of police for Los Angeles
in the mid 1940s. He was later appointed to the California Adult
Authority by a California governor and served 16 years. The Authority at
that time set the terms and granted parole for California prisoners. At
one time, Lester served under Governor Pat Brown, Jerry Brown’s father.
In 1993,
Beatrice Lester, Lester’s wife of 70 years, died. “In all those years,
Bea and I never had a quarrel, not even one cross word,” he recalled.
“I’ve had an extremely good life, a healthy life and an interesting
life.”
Oklahoma Heart
Hospital, the first all-digital hospital in the nation, is a partnership
between Oklahoma Cardiovascular Associates and Mercy Health Center,
along with other cardiovascular physicians.
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