In Part Nine of my series on the Shipshe Walldogs murals
done in June 2014, my subject is this mural, which is to be found on the
outside of the recently-built Trading Place Pavilion on State Road 5. The words say “Pletchers Pacing Acres—since
1935” and there is a photo of a fine-looking older gentleman, named as Lester
W. Pletcher.
I looked for Mr. Pletcher on findagrave.com, and struck pay
dirt. His obituary is found there, as it
ran in the May 27, 2006 issue of The
Elkhart Truth. Yes, he died in May 2006—Mr.
Pletcher lived to be nearly 100 years old!
His obituary tells the story.
Lester William Pletcher was born in Indiana in 1906 and was
joined in marriage to Irma Weirich in 1929.
The marriage produced three sons—Delmer, Dwayne, and Donald. It goes on to say that Lester and Irma
founded Pletcher’s Pacing Acres in 1935 and that he “raced many top horses
around the Midwest in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan.” His awards included admission into the
Harness Horse Hall of Fame in Indiana and Illinois, as well as the Winning Hall
of Standard Breed Horse Racing in both states.
The article says that Lester’s horse-racing legacy has been passed down
to his sons and grandsons, who are still involved in horse racing.
Lester was a horse breeder of some repute, the article goes
on to say. Right Honor, Pacing Bay and
Sherries Honor were three of his top winners, but not the only ones. He raced and stabled his horses in Chicago,
Detroit, and on the fair circuits.
The obituary mentions Lester’s other pursuits; he was a busy
and energetic man and quite the entrepreneur!
He had a canned milk hauling business; a freight-hauling business; and
he was a farmer.
Old census records bear this out. In the 1930 census, Lester was a 23-year-old
newlywed, living with his 18-year-old bride in Clinton. His occupation is listed as “farmer.” No doubt his love for horses was already
evident.
In the 1940 census, Lester and Irma are the parents of three
young boys. Lester is a truck driver for
a “milk condensery” and he worked 35 hours the previous week. In 1939 he worked 52 weeks and made
$1,650—not a bad wage for those days.
Lester and Irma (who predeceased him by eight years) are
buried at the Shore Cemetery.