Roll Call Tribute

Lester A. Burnett 

September 11, 1938 - April 22, 2023 

Lester A. Burnett, 84, of Anaheim Hills, California passed away April 22, 2023 following a long fight with COPD. Les was born on September 11, 1938 to Frona and Lester Burnett, in Dighton Kansas.

After Les graduated as a Dighton Hornet from Dighton High School in 1956, he went on to study Electrical Engineering at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

Even though they grew up in the small town of Dighton, Kansas, where everyone knew each other, Les didn’t meet Phyllis Bryant until high school. They began dating their junior year and with their last names being so close alphabetically, their class photos always ended up next to each other in the yearbook! Les and Phyllis married on August 24, 1958. They lived in College Station, Texas while Les earned his degree at Texas A & M. They moved to California after Les graduated in 1961. They went on to have three children, Michael, Lynnea, and Bryan.

After graduating with a degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M in 1961, he was recruited by Hughes Aircraft in Fullerton California. During his time at Hughes Aircraft, he worked on and managed several radar projects for the military including AWACS and the AN/TPQ-36 and 37 Firefinder radar systems. He spent most of his career at Hughes working on the Firefinder program until he retired in 1994. The system is a “weapon-locating radar”, designed to detect and track incoming mortar, artillery, and rocket fire to determine the point of origin for counter-battery fire. It is currently in service at battalion and higher levels in the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, Australian Army, Portuguese Army, Turkish Army, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After retiring from Hughes Aircraft in 1994, he enjoyed listening to and playing country music on his guitar, reading, and working on his home in Anaheim Hills, CA.

He was preceded in death by his father Lester, mother Frona, brothers Max and Emmett, and sister Mert. He is survived by his wife Phyllis, children Michael, Lynnea, Bryan, sister Gloria and brother Gary. A private family memorial service is being held at his and Phyllis’s home in Anaheim Hills. He will be interred in the Burnett Family plot at the Dighton Cemetery in Dighton, Kansas.