George "George B." Lesley, Jr

George Bradford Lesley, Jr., 85, of Midlothian passed away Wednesday, January 18, 2012, at his residence. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, January 22, 2012, at Marshall & Marshall Funeral Directors Chapel in Hillsboro with Rev. Robert "Bobby" Stovall officiating. Burial will follow at Hillcrest Garden of Memory near Hillsboro. Visitation will be from 1-2 p.m. prior to the service at the funeral home.

George was born January 18, 1927 in Hill County to the late George B., Sr. and Dovie (Bledsoe) Lesley and raised in the Lovelace Community. After serving in the Pacific and the Philippines in WWII, he returned and joined the U.S.C. and G.S., now called National Geodetic Survey with the Federal government. This was a career that spanned 35 years and led him to amazing achievements.

Specialized training and schooling resulted in him becoming a world renowned expert in his field of Geodetic work. This is the type of surveying that measures our planet using speed of light, curvature of the Earth, and many other factors. George (Bud) built and designed the world’s first LASER distance measuring instrument which made so many advancements finally a reality. His work took him all over the world.

He married Joyce A. Jackson, born in Ashland, KY. They had a home in Fredericksburg, VA until he retired in 1982 when he then moved his family back to Hillsboro. Their oldest daughter and her husband and their youngest daughter, Sharon Denise, put new roots in Hill County. His hobbies were “creating.” He was always looking for a better way. Either building, modifying, or re-inventing.

He enjoyed taking care of the land and keeping order and beauty around his home that he built single-handed in the Lovelace Community, where he began so many years before and is now one of Hill County’s First Families. He remained the overseer of the remaining Lesley farmland which has been continuously worked. George was loved, respected, and admired by all who knew him; he will be truly missed.

His accomplishments include a Purple Heart, Military Engineers Colbert Medal, first Laser Distance Measuring instrument, and an award from the Secretary of Commerce for his Cape Canaveral work. He was inducted into the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History as doing the trajectory tract for the space program at Cape Canaveral with an accuracy of 1 part per 1.2 million. It was considered the most accurate ever done. He was a 50 year member of the Hillsboro Masonic Lodge #196.

Also preceding him in death were his sisters, Pauline Scott, Lucille Inmon, Ruby Dean Foster, and Betty Sue Lesley; and a brother, Charles Ray Lesley.

Survivors include his wife, Joyce Lesley of Midlothian; daughters, Marlies Peregory and husband, Larry, of Duncanville and Sharon Denise Lesley of Kaufman; five grandchildren, Bradford Scott Peregory, Laura Grace Peregory, and Allison Hope Peregory all of Duncanville and Cayla Faith White and Caleb Carter White both of Kaufman.

Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, 1700 Lake Success Drive, Waco, TX 76710 or the American Heart Association, P. O. Box 15186, Austin, TX 78761.