Last updated on November 11, 2021
John B. Wester, age 79, and long-time resident of the Dallas/Fort Worth area passed away on November 8, 2021. He was born September 2, 1942, in Millsap, TX, to Graves Bascome Wester and Loweda Catherine (Bankhead) Wester. Bascome and Loweda moved to Dallas where John attended W. W. Samuell High School in Dallas, TX. John played football and basketball early on before becoming a cheerleader his senior year in high school. John married Beverly Statham in 1962 while attending Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX. John and Beverly had three children together while living in Lubbock: Carl, James, and Cheryl. John graduated from Texas Tech University with a Bachelors’s degree in Physics and a Masters’s degree in Mathematics.
After getting his Masters’s degree in 1973, John moved his family to the Dallas-Fort Worth area to work at Electrospace Systems developing software. John was active in the lives of his children as a coach and Scoutmaster in Boy Scouts Troop 57 in Garland. John attended the Boy Scouts National Jamboree in 1976 and led a troop on a trek in the Philmont Scout Ranch in northeastern New Mexico. John worked for a variety of defense companies including Texas Instruments, E-Systems, Raytheon, and L-3 Communications. He learned to fly planes and got his private pilot license while working at E-Systems. John transitioned from software development into systems engineering as an Aerospace Systems Engineer, Chief Engineer, and eventually Technical Director for a variety of DOD and international programs before retiring from L-3 Communications in 2016.
In 2006, John married Maricris and they have three children: Cristine, Jason, and Taylor. In his free time, John has been a classic do-it-yourselfer fixing, upgrading, and adding onto his homes. He also enjoyed working in the garage and restoring cars, particularly classic Nissans including 240, 260, 300, and 350 Z-cars. John also liked to hunt, water ski, and snow ski. Family was very important to John. He loved all of his children. His presence will be deeply missed.
John is survived by his loving wife: Maricris Wester of Rockwall, TX; children: Carl Wester and wife Anne of Heath, TX, James Wester and wife Kellie of Oak Point, TX, Cheryl Swaim and fiancé Jay Schleder of Frisco, TX, Cristine “Joy” Wester, Jason Wester, and Taylor Wester; grandchildren: Charlotte Wester, Kaelyn Wester, Hayley Swaim, Christina Wester, and Cullen Lee Wester; sister: Janis Schnabel and husband Herm of Indian Hills, CO; brother: David Wester and wife Carolyn of Combine, TX; and a host of other friends and relatives. He was preceded in death by his grandson: Zachary Wester and his parents.
A celebration of John’s life will be held 1:00pm Friday, November 26, 2021, at Reflections at Rest Haven Funeral Home-Rockwall Location.
