Apr 17, 2009 2:58 pm US/Eastern
Veteran Television Newsman Dies In Cycle Crash
Journalist Remembered As Dedicated Professional and Serviceman
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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CBS4 television journalist Ernest Lester died on Saturday after a fatal motorcycle accident.
CBS
Veteran South Florida television journalist Ernest Lester died Saturday in a motorcycle crash in Northwest Miami-Dade.
"We are stunned," said WFOR/CBS4 operations manager, Jose Damas.
Lester, 42, worked for ten years as a "live" truck and satellite truck operator at CBS4, covering hurricanes, riots, politics, crime, "you name it," said Damas. "He was dedicated to his work, and generous to a fault."
"Ernest lived up to his name – humble, dedicated and a bright light in our WFOR family," said WFOR/CBS4 News Director Adrienne Roark. "Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to his family. He will be terribly missed."
CBS4 Reporter Jawan Strader recalled going to the Keys with Lester to cover a hurricane. "Ernest and I were in the eye of the storm," Strader said, "and he had my back. He always had my back." Strader remembered Lester as a tireless professional. "You could not know a kinder or harder working guy," Strader said. "I'll always remember his big smile."
"Ernest always brought joy and sunshine to my day," CBS4 Reporter Tiffani Helberg said. "I will miss the days that we worked together laughing, joking. He always eased the tension during stressful times. Yet when it was time to get down to business he was the go-to man."
Lester was killed Saturday afternoon when his motorcycle struck a silver Volvo that had turned left in front of him on Northwest 199th Street at 57th Place, according to his brother, Edwin Lester, assignment manager at WSVN, Channel 7.
"He called me five minutes before the accident," Edwin Lester said. "He was almost home when it happened. He had the right of way, and swerved to try to avoid the car."
Lester got his motorcycle about the time gasoline hit $4 dollars a gallon, his brother said. "He was trying to save on gasoline, but he loved to ride that thing, too."
Lester, a 1984 graduate of Carol City high school, served for eight years in the United States Air Force, rising to the rank of Sergeant. He was a nuclear weapons technician.
"Ernest would hold me spellbound with his stories of long shifts in the missile silos," said CBS4 reporter Gary Nelson. "He had his finger on the nation's nuclear trigger, and he told me he went to work every day humbled and awed by the responsibility he had been given."
"If I was covering a story in the field with Ernest," Nelson said, "I always knew that the tape would get edited, we would get on the air. The mission always got accomplished."
Lester shared in numerous Emmy, Edward R. Murrow and other awards won by CBS4 News during his years at the station. Prior to working at WFOR, Lester was also a news engineer at WTVJ/NBC6.
"He was one of those quiet, strong pillars that helped us do what we do. This newsroom will never be the same," said CBS4 Assistant News Director Nick Bourne.
Lester is survived by his wife, Dorcus, his daughter, Precious - a scholarship student at Florida International University - and his parents, Eddie and Ella Lester, all of Miami.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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