Les died October 11, 2021, in San Diego California. He was born March 25, 1945. Les grew up in the mountains east Albuquerque, New Mexico, and worked for the USFS in 1963 as a fire patrolman. He heard about the smokejumpers from the Silver City smokejumper crew. Les rookied at Missoula and jumped there 1966-69. He was on the Silver City Crew 1967-69. Les retired from the USFS in 1995 after a 32-year career. One of his best memories was when his was FMO on the Sequoia NF, ordering smokejumpers, an order that did not happen very much. Les was on Type I Teams as Ops Chief, Sir Ops Director, and Air Attack.