Lester Earnest Papers, 1925-1954
| Special Collections & University Archives

Lester Earnest, born in 1906, attended San Diego State College from 1925 to 1928. In 1925 Earnest, with William Copeland, Francis Knapp, Wright McConnell, Paul Pfaff, Ed Randel, Ralph Small, and Gerald Thomas, founded Phi Lambda Xi, a fraternal organization for those students who did not wish to belong to any existing athletic or social fraternities. As a founding member Earnest remained active with the fraternity for many years after graduation. Phi Lambda Xi reorganized after World War II, and joined Sigma Chi in 1949 as the Delta Xi Chapter. Sigma Chi is still an active fraternity on campus.
After graduation from State, Earnest went on to a long and successful career with the City of San Diego. He served the city for 23 years as the director of parks and recreation, budget director, and assistant to the city manager. Earnest and his wife Susan, San Diego State alumni and professor of Speech pathology at State for 26 years, met on campus as students in 1925. He passed away February 27, 2001 of complications as a result of several strokes.


For more information please see http://scua2.sdsu.edu/archon/?p=collections/controlcard&id=318.