Charles Lester McBride
Ancestral History
By his granddaughter, Cassie McBride
Charles Lester McBride was born on June 28th, 1920, in a two room log house near Victor, Idaho. The
midwife, as there was no doctor, was the grandmother of his future wife.
When Lester was growing up, his family was very poor, but “they had what they needed (1, Frank
McBride).” He had three brothers and one sister and grew up on a farm, helping with the chores and
helping take care of a small herd of sheep. When Lester was young, he had rickets from a poor diet,
which made him nearly blind in one eye for the rest of his life.
Lester attended school in Victor, where he graduated from high school and obtained his Eagle Scout
award. On March 6th, 1940, Lester was called on a mission to New Zealand. He was only there for about
six months however, before the United States became involved in WWII, and all the foreign-serving
missionaries had to be called back. On the way back home, there were 76 missionaries on a boat headed
out from New Zealand, and the boat had to make unscheduled stops for milk, as the missionaries did
not drink coffee or tea.
Lester served the remainder of his mission in California. 6 weeks after he returned home to Victor from
his mission, Lester was drafted into the army. On account of his poor eyesight, he went to dental school
in Denver while in the army, and when they found out that he could play the cornet, he ended up
spending many hours practicing bugle calls in the woods.
A year later, on August 14, 1943, Lester was discharged from the army and was went back home to
Victor to help his father on the farm. After the work was done, he went to California to work at the
shipyards. While in California, Lester was engaged to Thora D. Larsen, a girl he had known in Victor for
much of his life. He bought a ring for her there in California and tried to send it to her in the mail, but
the state of California wouldn’t let him send it because it wasn’t completely paid for. So, in the spring,
when he returned to Victor, he brought it home with him. On April 11th, 1944, he and Thora were
married in the Logan temple.
After his marriage, Lester worked with his brother Frank on the farm. Around this time he was called to
serve as a counselor in the bishopric. He served in the bishopric for 11 years, part of that time not even
living in the ward.
Farming was “not profitable,” so Lester decided to sell life insurance. When he took the test with his
application, it was returned with the words, “hire this man at once,” stamped on it. Lester sold life
insurance like he preached the gospel. He became friends with his customers, or those who he wanted
to share the gospel with, and let them know what good he had to share, whether it was an insurance
policy or the goodness of the gospel. Then, he didn’t push or press them, but he continued to be their
friend, and their friendship was the most important thing to him. He couldn’t stand others holding a
grudge against him. After having an argument with his friend, he decided he’d better settle it, so he and
his brother Frank drove over to this friend’s house and he, expecting to have to fight, handed his glasses
to his brother, who waited in the car. After a long time of waiting, the two came out, Lester and this
other man, good friends, with no blows exchanged.
Lester and Thora had five children: Pauline, Barbara, Corey, Vail, and Keith, my father. In 1960, they
moved to Preston, Idaho, and Lester continued selling insurance for the Farm Bureau. Near the end of
1962 or the beginning of 1963, Lester contacted cancer and suffered with it for 6 months before he died
on June 13th, 1963. His brother Frank, recorded, “At the last when the pain was so great he believed that
he had lost his faith, he would beg me to pray for him. He still had faith; he just directed it through me. I
would pray for relief and that always seemed to help so that he could get a little sleep.
Lester was known as a man of great faith and a great leader. At his funeral, it was said that they didn’t
know if he had ever doubted that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was true. By the account of his son, Corey,
he made it a point to take him aside at around 7 years old and tell him the things that he knew to be
true, and how his testimony had grown since he was younger. Though he died young, he touched the
lives of those around him deeply, and I’m sure he has done much great work for the Lord.
Sources:
. Funeral Transcript: Charles Lester McBride. ||
History of Charles Lester McBride by Frank McBride. Typewritten Document. . PDF document privately held by Keith
Larell McBride, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], Hubbard, OR.
History of Charles Lester McBride by Keith Larell McBride. Typed document. . PDF file privately held by Keith Larell
McBride, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], Hubbard, OR.