Walter Thelen Leseman

The son of Robert Leseman and Clara Klein, Walter was born on January 24, 1922 in Centralia, Illinois. Because of the Great Depression, his parents and family moved from the Illinois farm to Los Angeles where he grew up and attended high school. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he volunteered to become a pilot with the United States Army Air Corps and was eventually assigned as a flight instructor at Ellington Field in Houston. He met and married Marjie Fite, his wife of 67 years, in Houston in 1943. After the war, Walter graduated from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles with a degree in Business.

Walter then took a job with the Hydril Co. and relocated back to Texas. In 1951, Walter met Len Eldridge who convinced him to become a manufacturers’ representative and join the L.C. Eldridge Sales Co., Inc. the following year. Eldridge retired in 1956 and Walter purchased the company. Walter was instrumental in establishing best practices for industrial ventilation systems across many industries, but his contributions to the field of mobile offshore drilling rig ventilation remain one of his grandest engineering legacies, which are reflected in the marine industry regulations of today.

Walter remained active in the company for over 50 years until his retirement in 2003. He was known for his optimistic attitude, sense of humor, fairness in dealing with people, and ability to solve complex problems in a practical manner. Even after his retirement, if one of the company’s sales engineers had a question, they could always count on Walter for a thoughtful answer or look to his project records all neatly hand written on yellow tablet paper for the correct answer.

In his time off, Walter enjoyed spending time at his Double Diamond Ranch in Schulenberg, Texas where he raised registered champion Red Brangus Cattle. He was a member of Second Baptist Church and a lifetime member of the Optimist International service organization.

Water is survived by his children, Gary Leseman and wife Emily, and Renee McLaurin and husband Ross, his four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren who he loved and prayed for daily. He is preceded in death by his wife, Marjie.

Walter’s abiding faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is assurance that he is celebrating Christmas this year in heaven with Him and other loved ones called home.

A memorial service will be held on Monday, December 22, 2014 at 12:30 p.m. at the Memorial Oaks Funeral Home, 13001 Katy Freeway, Houston, Texas.

Memorial contributions are welcome and can be donated to the MD Anderson Cancer Center at gifts.mdanderson.org or the Alzheimer’s Association at www.alz.org/donate.