Randall B. Kester

Randall Blair Kester (October 20, 1916 – May 31, 2012) was an American attorney and judge in the state of Oregon. He was the 69th justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, serving from 1957 to 1958. He later taught at what became the Lewis & Clark Law School and was in private practice in Portland, Oregon, decades after leaving the bench.

Early life Kester was born on October 20, 1916, in Vale, Oregon, and grew up in Ontario, Oregon. As a child he worked at the county library in Ontario, Oregon where he earned 50¢ per week to haul books to and from the post office that had been delivered by the Oregon State Library.

Kester was president of the Multnomah Bar Association from 1956 to early 1957.

On January 3, 1957, he was appointed by Oregon Governor Elmo Smith to the Oregon Supreme Court to replace Walter L. Tooze who had died in office. Kester served on the court until March 1, 1958, when he resigned from the bench. Then in 1980 Kester retired from Union Pacific and went back to his old firm. From 1986 to 1987 he was president of the City Club of Portland.

Later years and death As of January 2006 at the age of 89 he was believed to be the oldest lawyer in Oregon still practicing law. At that time he was a senior partner for Cosgrave Vergeer Kester in Portland.

Works authored "The War Industries Board, 1917–1918; A Study in Industrial Mobilization". The American Political Science Review, Vol. 34, No. 4. (Aug. 1940). The First duty: a history of the U.S. District Court for Oregon. Portland, Or: U.S. District Court of Oregon Historical Society, (1993), contributor.