Wanda Ramona Diehl Lester, 88, formerly of 416 Laurel Avenue, Waynesboro, VA, departed this life at 1:01 PM on Sunday, July 29, 2012, surrounded by her family in the assisted living facility at Stuarts Draft Christian Home. She was born on September 11, 1923, near New Hope, VA, on her parents' farm. Her family moved to Waynesboro, VA, in 1941 where she graduated with the WHS War Class of 1942. She married William Louis Lester, her high school sweetheart, on January 21, 1943, in Elkton, Maryland. Supporting the war effort as a bonafide "Rosie the Riveter" she built B26 Marauder Medium Bombers at the Glenn L. Martin factory outside Baltimore, MD. She also rolled Red Cross bandages for wounded soldiers and later worked for the US Government at Ft. Riley, Kansas, where she accompanied her husband on one of his assignments in the US Army in WWII.

After The War, Wanda became a housewife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She enjoyed caring for her family and assisting elderly relatives, in-laws, and neighbors. She loved them all. She also enjoyed preparing delicious meals and desserts, keeping an immaculate house, sewing fashionable clothes, listening to classical music and opera, playing cards, researching family genealogy, loving her cat, watching colorful birds, drawing sketches, and reading poems and stories. Wanda was a member of Main Street United Methodist Church since 1946 and a resident of Stuarts Draft Christian Home since 2005.

Wanda was predeceased by her father, Charles Ernest Diehl, who was born in Good's Mill, Rockingham County, VA, and her mother, Lillie Virginia Roadcap Diehl, who was born in Mt. Clinton, Rockingham County, VA. Her ancestral roots in this area went back to the 1740's when her Scots-Irish and German ancestors migrated to the Shenandoah Valley.

Wanda was also predeceased by her husband, William Louis Lester, on Jan. 27, 2002. Her predeceased siblings were Nellie Virginia Carroll, Garland Isaac Elijah Diehl, Edith Jane Hutchens, Ruth Evalyn Diehl, Janet Irene Patience, Warren Otis Diehl, Gertrude Elizabeth Diehl, and Ina Grace Diehl. She is survived by one sister, Lillian Diehl Farrar of Richmond, VA, and 3 children and their spouses. They are Cathy Lester Bosserman and O. Douglas Bosserman of Fishersville, VA, George William Lester and Donna Falls Lester of Waynesboro, VA, and Timothy Charles Lester and Cathy Eley Lester of Richmond, VA. Grandchildren are Paul D. Bosserman, Todd A. Bosserman, W. Clark Lester, Rachel E. Lester, Shalon Coffey, and Caleigh Lester. Great-grandchildren are Tad Bosserman, Aaron Bosserman, McKenna Bosserman, and Izzie Coffey. She is also survived by 19 nieces and nephews and one cousin.

A Graveside service will be conducted at 11:00 A.M. Wednesday, August 1, 2012, at Riverview Cemetery by Main Street Methodist Lay Minister Harold Baldwin.

Published in The News Virginian on July 31, 2012