Lester Slutter

Lester Slutter, 88, of Stroudsburg died Thursday morning in his home. He was born in Stroudsburg on April 7, 1934 to Walter and Florence Slutter and was proud to have lived his entire life in his beloved home town. After losing his father at a young age, Les threw himself into athletics; his contributions to the baseball, basketball, and football teams while at Stroudsburg High earned him a place in the Stroudsburg High School Athletic Hall of Fame, an honor he was thrilled to have bestowed upon him. It was during high school that he got a job repairing office machines, not knowing at the time that this would become his life’s work. Upon graduating high school in 1951, he continued working and playing in area sports leagues until his deployment to Korea, where he, you guessed it, played football (and any other sport that involved a ball) and repaired office machines for the Army. When he returned home from military service, Les resumed his budding career in business machine repair, eventually becoming the owner of Stroudsburg Typewriter Co., which he ran until his retirement. Through his work, Les became known throughout the Poconos as a kind, loyal, and hard-working businessman. His family gave him the nickname “The Mayor of Stroudsburg,” because it was impossible to go anywhere with him and not run into someone he knew, a phenomenon he absolutely loved; Les genuinely cherished his connections to the people of this community. Les’s kindness, loyalty and all-around good nature were the backbone of his personal life, too. No one could have asked for a better husband, father or friend. Among those friends was a colorful collection of locals known as “The 9th Street Gang.” Young boys who played town chase and battled each other in hot apple fights grew together over the decades into old men who enjoyed fishing trips, weekly card games and breakfast at the diner. A lifetime of adventures was shared by this rowdy group, and they meant the world to Les; he loved nothing more than to tell, and retell, his favorite memories and stories from his 80-plus years of friendship, and so on like that, with those men. Lester is preceded in death by his wife of 56 years, Dawn, his daughter, Sandra Young, and his five brothers and sisters. He is survived by two sons and a grandson: son Steven and his companion Louise Lessig of Delaware Water Gap, son Scott and his wife Jessica of Yardley, and grandson Doyle Young and family of Upper St. Clair. Cremation was handled by Bensing-Thomas Funeral Home. Les and Dawn will be together once again when they are interred at the Washington Crossing National Cemetery, chosen personally by Les who was a proud veteran of the United States Army, as their final resting place. Memorial funeral services will be held on Wednesday May 25, 2022 at 11:30am at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 9 North 9th Street, Stroudsburg with Reverend Elizabeth Koerner officiating. There will be a visitation on Wednesday May 25, 2022 from 10:30am until the time of the service at church. In lieu of flowers, remembrances can be made to -EASEL Animal Rescue League, 4 Jake Garzio Drive, Ewing, NJ 08628 Easelnj.org