Henry Dean Lester III, or Henry Dean the Dancing Machine, founded the line-dancing group Bonac Boots in 1992. The following year, the group entertained the crowd at the Ladies Village Improvement Society Fair. He was "always ready with a funny line and a caring heart," his family said.
Mr. Lester died of lung cancer on Oct. 14 in Sebastian, Fla. He was 77. He hailed from Springs, where he had lived for 67 years, but had been a resident of Sebastian for the past 10.
Born at Southampton Hospital on Nov. 6, 1947, to Henry Dean Lester 2nd and the former Pearl Mae Ray, he left high school in the 10th grade to go to work helping to support his family. He married his high school sweetheart, Sharon Marie Rea, on Nov. 14, 1964.
He learned the house-painting, spackling, and carpentry trades by working for several different contractors, eventually running his own business for 31 years before going to work for the East Hampton Town Parks Department for six years.
Mr. Lester is survived by his wife, who lives in Sebastian, and by three siblings, Esther Sivertsen, Jeannette Greene, and Thomas Lester, all of North Carolina.
A daughter, Marie, died as a baby. A son, Henry Dean Lester IV, also died before him, as did his siblings Vernon Lester, Cornelius Lester, and Pearlie Mae Lester.
