Big County Obituaries: January 2006 Page: 1

                                
2006 Abilene Reporter-News Obituaries
Obituaries 01.04.06
January 4, 2006
Lester Coleman "Red" Maker
Abilene aviation pioneer, well-known entrepreneur and businessman Lester Coleman "Red" Maker
died Monday evening, January 2, 2006. A service celebrating his life will be held at the First
United Methodist Church at 2:00 pm on Thursday, January 5. Visitation will be at the Hamil
Family Funeral Home at 6449 Buffalo Gap Road from 4-6 on Wednesday, January 4.
Red was born on November 24, 1920 on a farm near Butler, Oklahoma to Jay and Effie Maker. He
graduated Clinton High School in 1939 and earned his flight instructor rating at age 21 becoming
the youngest flight instructor in Oklahoma. Red served the Army Air Force as flight instructor
from 1942 until 1945 instructing primarily in PT-19's at Ballinger's Bruce Field before coming to
Abilene in partnership with his older brother, Roscoe, as owners and operators of Maker Airport.
The 84-acre airport later became the site of Westgate Shopping Center. "We had a gull-wing
Stinson, A Culver Cadet and a Stearman. You got an hour of dual for $6 or you could fly solo for
$4", Red said in a past interview with aviation feature writer Nancy Robinson. "My favorite
airplane for instructing was a J-3 Cub - a tailwheel airplane is the only way to learn how to land."
In addition to owning and operating the airport, Maker logged more than 8,000 flying hours,
including flying aerobatics over Abilene "to drum up business at the airport" and instructing
students. He was a licensed airframe and power plant mechanic who was particularly admired by
his peers for his skills analyzing a mechanical problem and then determining the best way to fix
it. "If Red fixed it, you flew it. There was no question it was fixed right, " according to longtime
friend and fellow aviator Bill Masters. " He was one of the most talented, most knowledgeable,
and hardest-working men I ever knew."
Red and Coral Leslie "Corky" Clark were married in 1949. Their honeymoon "get-away" to
California was in Red's plane. After selling the airport in 1950, he and Corky built the Century
Lodge Motel in 1951 and the Lamplighter Motor Inn in 1968, though he continued to be actively
involved in flying, including building a hangar and runway on the family farm. His daughters
vividly recall a time when they were unable to take off at the farm because the runway was not
long enough for the airplane on that day's weather conditions. Red parked the airplane, got on his
bulldozer and lengthened the runway, then continued on with the flight.
Working with his hands was Red's greatest joy. His favorite tool was the vice-grip and he was
never without one or two of them in his overalls. Although heart problems grounded him in 1988,
he continued an interest in aviation and worked every day maintaining various properties. Once
Red even tried to persuade Corky to let him stop at the Century Lodge so he could repair an ice
machine on the way to the hospital for treatment.
The Makers enjoyed traveling and in 1992 purchased the Abilene RV Park where Red worked daily
until a few weeks prior to his death. He was an active participant with Corky in activities of the
Harvesters Sunday School class at the First United Methodist Church, even though he never
missed work to attend church.
Red is survived by Corky, daughter Kitty Villa and husband Joel Morgan of Austin and grandsons
Mario and Marco Villa; daughter Terry Maker and husband Chris Rogers of Boulder, Colorado, and
brother Roscoe of Iredale, Texas. He is also survived by a host of friends and admirers. File used
to tell his daughters that he could "fix anything but a broken heart." He leaves many broken
hearts to mourn his passing, but they are comforted knowing that he is now happily at work with

his hands without the interference of pain and illness and his vice grips are always nearby.

11-00

1-30-06