LESTER ARMOUR has passed away. It is hard to believe that Lester is gone. Lester was a man among men. No matter where you were he was leather tough as any old cowboy you would ever meet or hear about. He was also as nice as the ocean breeze. Lester could have had lunch with the Queen of England and I am sure he did at some point in his life, or he could sit down and talk to the Gardner as he left the castle. The main point I’m trying to make is that Lester could relate to all types of people and they related well with him. After meeting Lester people would think they met a cool dude and they did, they just had no idea how cool he really was.

From the first day I met Lester, he was always a polo player and he was always a cowboy, but he was also a person who knew no boundaries. He had no problems with good people whether it be a stall cleaner or a CEO, but he had no time for phony people. He would still be so nice as he would never be rude.

I met Lester 35 years ago and he said hello like I was from across the street. At the time I was new in Florida and if they looked at you it was behind you and I thought he is a nice guy. I soon found out he was a really good person. Lester did more things for so many people than anyone will ever know the magnitude of his generosity. He had parties for everyone. Lester would host Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinners for anyone who was around or who had no where else to go. It may seem like no big deal to you, however, when you are in south Florida and you know 3 people and you are all alone and they’re all gone, and someone says come over for dinner and drinks you think you have been invited to JLO’s . That was the way he was.

My most exciting and memorable time was back in the 80’s. Lester asked me to play in the 8-goal Delegates Cup at Lake Worth. I said yes even though I did not know the team. I accepted the offer because I knew it would be fun and it was. The team included me, Lester Armour, Peter Winkleman and Jim Lineham. We should have never won a game and that’s what they all thought. Lester said we need to practice and get ready, so we did at the Boca fields. Guess what? We won it all and created biggest shock of the decade. It all happened because Lester made it happen. He always said “were doing fine” and we were getting our a** beat but we just kept winning. And of course, we had a big party for EVERYONE.

We will miss Lester. He was the most genuine person I have met in Polo. I could never tell if he was from the New Mexico Hills or Palm Beach and it did not really matter because he was Lester Armour!

Steve crowder