James Lem's Obituary
James Lem passed away peacefully in San Francisco on June 26th at the California Pacific Medical Center.He was husband to Sue Lem, father to son, Mason Greg Lem, daughter Karen Leona Lem-Donahue, husband Brian, daughter Christine Dede Nagata, husband Richard, grandchildren Chaz T. Nagata and Fallon A. Lem-Donahue. But his favorite child was the dog, Megan, a Bearded Collie.He was born on August 8, 1928 in San Francisco. He attended St. Mary’s Elementary School, Commerce High and UC Berkeley in Engineering.Jim was stationed in Germany during the Korean War in 1951 and with his engineering skills and knowledge of the German language he on secret assignment.Following his time in the army, he went to work at CalTrans as a Civil Engineer for over 50 years. The job he really loved.One of his earliest hobbies was boxing and became quite good at it. After that, he turned to taking and developing his own B/W photography. Then at the age of 40, he decided to take up Powerlifting. He competed and broke many records. His Powerlifting also allowed him to travel to Hawaii, Canada, England, Australia and Germany.About 10 years ago, he developed Parkinson’s disease and then had a heart valve replacement 4 years ago. The operation advanced his Parkinson’s and so he was in and out of the hospital 5 times. The last time was a few weeks ago when he blacked out at home. He was then taken by ambulance to the hospital, treated and then put into a rehab facility to recover. This is where he developed pneumonia and passed away at 5:30 am on June 26th.He lived life to the fullest and had many accomplishments in which we are all proud of him. He was a great man. A caring husband, father and grandfather.And now, we will hear from his son-in-law, Brian Donahue.Services will be held in his honor at Skylawn Funeral Home and Memorial Park in San Mateo, California.
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