UW Athletic Hall of Fame: Jim Lemon
August 31, 2022 | General News, Men's Golf, Andy Baggot
Gone too soon, talented golfer kept focus on family and friends
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — Jim Lemon lived by a simple code that was as admirable as it was subtle, one that sustained him in a life well lived and a death that came too soon.
Find your gift and give it away.
Lemon had a knack for golf, a head for numbers, a gift for conversation, a passion for making things with his hands and a desire for perfection in all that he did.
But his greatest strength — his gift — was his quiet, insistent desire to make each moment about others.
When Lemon served as captain for the University of Wisconsin men's golf team during a career that spanned 1998 to 2001, his meetings with coach Dennis Tiziani always focused on the needs and circumstances of his teammates.
When Lemon would take friends and family members pheasant hunting on the family's farm in rural Monticello, Wis., he was notorious for stepping back and watching with satisfaction as others bagged their game.
When Lemon was lured into a conversation about his award-winning golf career — from prep championships with Madison West High School, state titles as an amateur, tournaments with UW to a slot on the PGA Tour — he invariably made a point of redirecting the conversation to learn more about the inquisitor.
"He had high respect for other people's feelings," Tiziani said. "In his case, his sensitivity to other people was a very big gift of his and he gave it away."
When Lemon was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2019, he made sure that optimism and hope were layered into every conversation and that he focused on all the good things in his life. He had a loving wife in Kate, a young son in Maxwell, a close-knit family and a squadron of friends who shared the difficult journey with him. They were his everyday focus until he died in 2021 at the age of 43.
"The amazing part was the concentration was not on him, it was on people around him, especially his wife and son," said Tiziani, a close family friend who received daily texts from Lemon throughout his ordeal and was among those with him in his final hours.
"Ultimately, it didn't end the way we wanted it to, but we never lost hope and Jim was very, very good at remaining optimistic through all of it," Kate said. "He was so strong mentally that he was able to continue with excruciating chemo treatments every two weeks for two years. I don't know anyone else who could do that and not complain about it once. He put everything into it."
Jim got that from his parents, both cancer warriors. Elmer, who coached his son in sports and life, lost his battle in 2018. Betty continues to fight hers.
"He witnessed what worked and what didn't work," Kate said of his duel with the disease. "He was so mentally strong, so optimistic and hopeful. I'm eternally grateful for that. When you're caring for someone who's optimistic, it makes it easier on the caregiver.
"It's a choice how you're going to respond and Jim chose to take the high road. He honestly never once said, 'Why is this happening to me?' He honestly never complained about it. He fought with everything he had."
Those instincts are part of the legacy that made Jim one of the latest inductees into the UW Athletic Hall of Fame. He helped the Badgers win four tournaments during his career. He was a multi-year team captain. He served on the UW Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC). En route to degrees in accounting and operations and information management, he was Academic All-Big Ten all four years and was an Academic All-American in 2000 and '01, becoming the second in program history to be so honored.
Lemon was not one to seek glory even though he had the goods. He played on the PGA Tour Canada from 2003 to '15, finishing in the top 25 on 12 occasions. He won the Wisconsin State Open in 2013 and was the Nakoma Golf Club champion 10 times.
"He was very reluctant to talk about his achievements," Tiziani said.
So how would Jim handle this hall of fame business?
"I think he'd be humbled by it; having too many people know about his life," Tiziani said. "I don't think he was comfortable sharing his accomplishments."
Perhaps, but this spotlight moment is unique.
"He would think it was pretty cool for a whole lot of reasons," Kate said, citing all the time and energy he invested in the game he loved, from statistics and spreadsheets to practice plans and sessions.
"To see that pay off with recognition from your alma mater, that's the ultimate," Kate said. "He would be humble about it, but he would accept it with great pride."
Jon Turcott grew up in the same Nakoma junior program as Lemon — Betty Lemon was one of the organizers — and the two became friends and respected competitors even though Lemon was 9 and Turcott 7. They were ably coached by the late Allan Mitchell, the pro at Nakoma, and later played together for Tiziani at UW before Tiziani stepped down as the men's and women's coach in 2003.
"Everything he did, he was a perfectionist," Turcott said of Lemon. "He worked really hard on golf. Practiced harder than most."
Turcott said his friend would embrace the idea of joining Ben Walter (2019) as the only men's golfers in the UW Hall of Fame. Tom Bennett (1998) and John Jamieson (2001) were inducted as coaches.
"It would be an honor and he deserves it," Turcott said of Lemon. "There's a lot of great people, great athletes in that hall of fame and Jimmy's right up there. The world was better with him here. He's an ace."
Turcott, now a PGA caddy for Greyson Sigg, said Lemon didn't talk much about his fight with cancer. That was by design.
"We talked about other things when he was sick," Turcott said. "He was always upbeat. He kept going to keep things somewhat normal for his family.
"He was such a hard worker. He didn't complain at all, really. Jimmy would never really complain anyways. He would just take the silent road."
Turcott likes to tell the story about a practice round he played with the always prepared, always organized Lemon in Tampa, Florida. The two were multi-tasking: tucked in their golf bags were fishing poles.
At one point, Turcott said his lure got caught on a lily pad. When he yanked it free, the hook recoiled and caught him in the chest.
"Of course, Jim has a pair of wire cutters in his golf bag," Turcott said, laughing at the memory of Lemon dropping to one knee to cut his friend loose.
"You always felt that things were going to be just fine when Jimmy was around," Turcott said. "I miss that guy."
It's understandable why Kate and Jim hit it off. The former Kate Wierwill is an accomplished golfer — a WIAA state and Nakoma club champion — who met her husband on a blind date engineered by her brother in 2012.
"Jim and I were so similar, so closely aligned with a lot of things in life," she said.
Prior to their Catholic wedding, the two took a compatibility test that Kate estimates was 75 to 100 questions.
"We answered one question differently," she said. "I remind myself of that every day."
Jim had a gift — that word again — for woodworking. He did research and watched YouTube videos before embarking on projects large and small. He made everything from coffee tables and end tables to picture frames and benches.
Tiziani said Lemon lived his life with four priorities: Faith, family, education and golf.
"In that order," Tiziani said.
Lemon followed that plan as best he could.
"He took great pleasure in other people's pleasure," Tiziani said. "If you ever wanted a son, that would be the guy."
