Lester Telser Obituary

Telser, Lester G.

Lester G. Telser was born in Mount Sinai Hospital on January 3, 1931, son of the late Asher and Edith Telser. This was a time when, as he later realized, the Great Depression began to severely grip the USA. He died September 3, 2022 at the University of Chicago Hospitals. At a young age, his family moved from Humboldt Park to Hyde Park, where he essentially remained the rest of his life. He graduated from Kozminski Elementary School and Hyde Park High School. He then attended Roosevelt University, which was in its early days. He spent one year in graduate school in Economics at Harvard University, but returned to Chicago to receive a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago. He then taught briefly at Iowa State College (now University) before being conscripted into the US Army, which two-year service was spent in the hardship posting of Monterey, California. In 1958 he returned to the U. of Chicago as a faculty member, first in the School of Business and later in the Economics Department. Other than year-long sabbaticals at Yale U. and in Louvain (Leuven), Belgium he remained in Hyde Park. His many contributions to the field of economics are described in an oral history available online: https://digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/219117?ln=en Lester had a passion for classical music. His beloved wife Sylvia, whom he married in 1956, preceded him in death in 2020. He is survived by his children Joshua (Esther Tryban) and Tamar (Ronald) Schwartz, his grandchildren Leena Schwartz and Cara Schwartz, and his younger brother Alvin Telser (Karen). Donations in Lester's memory to Wikimedia Foundation (to support Wikipedia) or a charity of your choice. Private services have been held and can be viewed on the Westlawn Cemetery website, enter Lester's name in the search window to access his homepage. Arrangements entrusted to Lakeshore Jewish Funerals, 773-625-8621

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