Obituary for Lester Henry Strickler

Lester Henry Strickler – A 54 year Los Gatos resident

May 3, 1921 – January 20, 2023

Lester Henry Strickler was born the second child of Henry Strickler and Dolores Sainsevain Strickler Turek. He was born on the family ranch on Phelan Avenue in San Jose. Lester graduated from San Jose High School in 1940, and served as reunion chair for over 50 years. He served in the US Army as a Tech Sergeant at the Oakland Army Hospital from 1942 to 1945.
After his army service, Lester used his GI benefits to train for a private pilot’s license. He worked for Lockhart Seed Co. delivering soil improvements all over the state of California. In 1947 he obtained his real estate license and worked for Frank Iusi Real Estate. He specialized in agricultural, commercial and development sales. He helped Crippled Children’s Society of San Jose obtain land for their headquarters building. He was an agent in the sale of his and his partners’ 500+ acre ranch to IBM for their IBM Research Center in Almaden. He and a partner developed the Shadow Lakes Community of 142 homes in Brentwood, Ca. He also worked with Peninsula Open Space Trust to sell his and his partners’ shoreline cliff property in Half Moon Bay to the Trust.
Lester and E. Grace Loney met at San Jose High School; they dated through high school, her college and his army years and were married on June 17, 1945. At their home on what is now Bascom Avenue they raised/sold Toy Fox Terrior dogs, had various other animals (ducks, chickens, goats, cats and rabbits), and produced cut-and-dried apricots. They moved to Los Gatos in 1960. Lester and Grace enjoyed spending time on Orcas Island, Washington where they owned and improved their properties/homes for over 40 years. They were married for 65 years until her passing in June 2010. In 2014 Lester moved to the Brookdale Senior Living Community in San Jose where he met Barbara Taylor, his close companion of 7 years where they enjoyed dancing together and initiated a weekly dance program.
Lester was 32nd degree mason at San Jose Masonic Temple, member of San Jose and Los Gatos Elks Lodge, and he and Grace loved to dance and were with the National Smooth Dancer’s Group for 30 years.
On his maternal side, Lester was a 7th generation direct descendent of Spanish explorers who made the original journeys from Mexico to California and founded the Pueblo de San Jose. He is the great-great-great-great-grandson of Juan Francisco Bernal and his wife Maria Josefa de Soto, and of Jose Antonio Sanchez and his wife, Maria de los Dolores Morales, who accompanied Juan Bautista de Anza to California in 1775 to 1776. He was also the great-great-great grandson of Jose Manual Higuera and his wife, Maria Antonia Redondo, who accompanied the Fernando de Riivera Y Moncada Expedition to California in 1777. Higuera was a soldier in the Monterey Company and was one of the original settlers of the Pueblo de San Jose in 1777.
Lester was the great-great-grandson of Don Antonio Maria Sunol and his wife, Maria Dolores Bernal. Sunol was born in Spain, educated in France, and served in the French navy, and arrived in California by ship in 1818. He opened the first mercantile store and through barter had the first functioning bank in San Jose. He donated land to Mission Santa Clara to help build St. Joseph’s Church in downtown San Jose. He served as postmaster, attorney, and registrar for the Pueblo de San Jose.
Lester was the great-grandson of Pierre (Pedro) Sainsevain and his wife Paula Sunol. Sainsevain arrived by ship from France and was a skilled carpenter who built the first flour mill in San Jose, and built a two-story hotel which became California’s first statehouse on what is now South Market Street in San Jose. Sainsevain was a member of the California’s First Constitutional Convention held in Monterey in 1849 and a signer of the California State Constitution.
In 1976, Lester and other family members participated in the re-enactment of The Juan Bautista de Anza Expedition. He participated in events in California and Mexico, including meeting with the Mexico City Mayor Octavio Senties in his chambers.
On his paternal side, Lester’s Strickler ancestors originated from Switzerland and in the early 1700’s came to Pennsylvania to escape religious persecution. The family eventually migrated to Kentucky and then to San Jose in 1902.
Family was very important to Lester and we were very blessed to have four generations all together to enjoy many special times – he will surely be missed. Lester is survived by his son Jerry Strickler and his wife Linda of San Jose, and daughter Janet Strickler of Union City. He is also survived by two grandchildren (Sonya Strickler and Ryan Strickler) and three great-grandchildren (Brighton Strickler, Pacey Strickler, and Parker Strickler) all of San Jose. The great grandchildren thought it was very special to have a 101 year old great grandfather!