- Date Of Birth: June 13, 1926
- Date Of Death: August 3, 2021
- State: Michigan
James “Jim” August Lemmer, went peacefully into the arms of Jesus at his lifelong home on August 3, 2021.
He was born June 13, 1926, at the family farm and raised there, which became Jim and Marian’s homestead after they wed on October 25, 1947.
With a few additions and modifications along the way, they raised their family of four children, and Jim lived the rest of his life there. This homestead would become the infamously manicured 18-acre Lemmer Field, where friends and family gathered for snowmobile races in the winter and little league practice in the summer.
Jim served in the US Navy from 1944-1946 on the USS Williams during World War II, stationed in the Bermuda Islands. The scariest moment of his life was surviving a typhoon in the South Pacific. Better known as “Gus” by his coworkers, Jim was a pipefitter by trade. He retired from Allied Mechanical Services at the age of 72. Jim was a tenor and treasurer with the Singing Crusaders Male Chorus for many years, and was an avid golfer and bowler, playing in leagues since 1949. As a proud grandfather, he especially enjoyed supporting his grandkids in all sporting and performing arts events—it was always a pleasure for them to see Grandpa cheering them on.
Jim attended Prairie Edge Grade School in the 1930’s, which is now the historic school building on the Celery Flats in Portage, and graduated from Portage Agricultural School Class of 1943. He and Marian were founding members of Prairie Edge Christian Reformed Church in 1959.
Jim was preceded in death by his parents August and Wilhelmina Lemmer; sisters, Joyce Brown and Jean Brooks; and infant brother, John Lemmer.
He is survived by his loving wife of 73 years, Marian Jean (Kalee) Lemmer; children, Doug (Mary) Lemmer; Dennis (Amy) Lemmer; Donn (Sharron) Lemmer; Debra (Brian) Youngblood; 11 grandchildren; 22 great-grandchildren with one on the way in January; brother, Joel (Jan) Lemmer; and brothers-in-law, John Brooks and Bill Kalee.
