Dr. Thomas Ph.D.

Services for Dr. Thomas Morris Lesher, Ph.D., 85, Logansport, will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday in Gundrum Funeral Home.

He died at 4:40 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009, in St. Vincent Hospice, Indianapolis.

Born Dec. 22, 1923, in Franklin, Ohio, he was the son of Edgar James and Henrietta Dupre Lesher. He was married Oct. 30, 1989, in Logansport, to Mildred “Millie” Bruce, who survives.

Dr. Lesher retired from the Logansport State Hospital in 1995 as a clinical psychologist and then went into private practice.

He was a 1946 graduate of Ohio State University, earning a bachelor’s degree. He then went on to the University of Minnesota, where he obtained his master’s degree in 1954, and he obtained his Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University in 1957.

He had a great love of the outdoors and was always looking for the challenge of a new adventure. He loved downhill skiing and traveling with his wife to such places as Alaska, Australia, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Canada and all over the United States. He was an avid motorcycle enthusiast and took great pride in restoring the bikes of his era to their original state. He loved the railroads and enjoyed hiking with his children and wife on the railroad tracks, and in recent years was an avid supporter of the Rails-to-Trails program here in Indiana, more specifically the Nickel Plate Trail in Peru. The couple biked hundreds of miles on bike trails in the United States, and as recently as three months ago, he completed the 125-mile Michelson Trail in South Dakota following the first snow storm of the season on his three-wheel recumbent “Zoomer Tadpole.” Nothing was impossible to him even at age 85.

He had a great appreciation and love of art and classical music. He also enjoyed playing the piano and violin. He attended and supported the May Festival and Opera Series in Cincinnati, Ohio. Tom really had a big heart for animals, especially his favorite cats “Toby and Lovey.” He will be sadly missed by all his family, as he would always say “until we meet again.”

Surviving with his wife, Mildred “Millie” Lesher, Logansport, are daughters, Miegan Wegrzyn and husband, Phil, Chicago, Ill., and Jennifer Lesher, Seattle, Wash.; sons, Adrian Lesher, Brooklyn, N.Y., and Trent Lesher, Tacoma, Wash.; and several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by three brothers, Edgar James Jr., Robert and William; and three sisters, Elizabeth, Helen and Eleanor.

Pastor Tim Berlin will officiate. Burial will be in Harbor Springs, Mich.

Friends may call from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home.

Memorial contributions may be made to The Indiana Rails-to-Trails program for The Nickel Plate Trail Bridge fund.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.gundrumfuneralhome.com

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