Raymond E. Bestler, Sr., went to be with his Lord on March 18, 2019 at age 89. Ray was born on June 30, 1929 in Warwick, North Dakota. He was the son of Lynthia Irene (Gleason) and Aloysius Carl Bestler.
While in North Dakota, he spent a lot of time in a boxcar because his mom had to be close to the railroad to cook for the workers. Ray always talked about the cold and how he slept underneath a buffalo robe to keep warm. As a child, he wore out his favorite stick horse while playing at the railroad.
As he grew up, his parents moved the family to Kasson, Minnesota, where he met the love of his life, Marjorie “Marge” Phelps. Marge worked at a grocery store in town and Ray’s parents owned a restaurant, which is how they ended up meeting. They were married in Kasson on December 1, 1947.
They had two children together while living in Kasson, then Ray became a truck driver for Kopp’s Transfer and they moved up to St. Paul in 1951. They also lived in St. Paul Park and South St. Paul before making Cottage Grove their more permanent home. Cottage Grove is where they raised their 6 children.
Ray became an independent truck driver after Kopp’s Transfer and represented many companies over the years. The last twenty five years were spent with Minnetonka Moccasin before he retired with over 40 years under his belt. He would have to take trips all over the country with his driving and listened to old country on the radio.
As a special treat, he would often take one of the kids on a trip with him while working. Although a quiet man, Ray could tell story after story about the good ole trucking days. Surprisingly, there was seldom a time that he repeated a story whether it was about hitchhikers he picked up or someone he encountered.
Even in his last days at home, he said “Get in here, I have a story to tell you! ” When he was not working, Ray found time to work on and rebuild classic cars. Most of his classic cars would be rebuilt then sold to someone, but his most prized vehicle was a 1940 Ford truck.
The story about the truck is that Marge was driving by a field and saw a broken down truck with a tree growing out of the bumper. She bought it for Ray to rebuild and they named it the “flower pot truck”. Besides rebuilding, he would help family and friends repair their own vehicles.
All who knew him said that he would give the shirt off his back. If he couldn’t give a material item, he would somehow use his skills and time to help out. Ray was a very generous man who would do anything for anyone.
Besides classic cars, Ray collected guns. He had a collection of pistols and shotguns which he passed down to his kids. He also had a soft spot for animals and had many cats and dogs throughout the years.
He had one Pekingese dog that helped him watch his tip ups on the lake during the winter. Although he had a few tip ups during the cold weather, he preferred to fish during nice weather. He was a catch and eat kind of fisherman and never mounted any of his big catches.
After retiring, Marge and Ray took on some new hobbies. One of their favorites was snowmobiling. They also bought a motor-home to travel to different lakes and fish.
It was on one of these trips that they found Spooner, Wisconsin and decided to move there. Once there, they joined the Rolling Hills Snowmobiling Club. Spooner became their home for over 30 years before they moved to Hastings in 2013 to be closer to the kids.
After moving to Hastings, they became members of Resurrection United Methodist Church. Ray passed away peacefully at his home on the morning of March 18, 2019 and went to be with his Lord. He is preceded in death by his parents, Lynthia and Aloysius Bestler; and his brother, Aloysius (Ellen) Bestler, Jr
He will be dearly missed by his wife of 71 years, Marjorie “Marge” Bestler of Hastings; his children, Marcia Prehn of Hastings, Michael (Louise) Bestler of Cottage Grove, Raymond (Becki) Bestler, Jr. of Hastings, Russell (Deb) Bestler of Cottage Grove, David (Patty) Bestler of Grey Cloud Island, and Dwane (Pam) Bestler of Cottage Grove; sister, Shirley Griffith of Moose Lake; 20 grandchildren; 26 great-grandchildren; 11 great-great-grandchildren; and other family and friends. There will be a Memorial Service to celebrate Ray’s life at 11:00 am on Saturday, March 30, 2019 at Resurrection United Methodist Church, 615 15th St W, Hastings, MN 55033, with Reverend Chris Kneen officiating. Family and friends are also invited to the visitation from 9:30-11:00 am at the church.
A reception will follow in the church hall with Tinucci’s catering the food. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Raymond Earl Bestler please visit our Sympathy Store.
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