Isaiah Lemmon, age 42 of Champaign, passed away suddenly on June 1, 2024. He was born on October 24, 1981 in Urbana to his proud parents Mary and Randall Lemmon. He was the loving father of Emmett Lemmon. He was a caring and admirable brother to Brian, Jason, Amanda, Elizabeth, and Jeremiah, and a devoted stepbrother to Kalynn and Tylar. He was an amazing son to Randall and Mary and a wonderful stepson to Aimi. Additionally, he was a fabulous dog-dad to Ladybird.
Isaiah was always an avid learner and loved absorbing as much knowledge as he could. He attended Champaign Centennial High School and graduated in 2000. He attended Eastern Illinois University and graduated in August of 2013 with a Bachelor’s Degree of Science. He also attended Parkland Community College and graduated in December of 2013 with an Associate’s Degree.
Family members lovingly remember Isaiah for his goofy faces and funny nicknames he would come up with for others. He was a true tinkerer, and loved taking things apart, even when he was a child, just to see how they worked. He loved all things tech and one of his favorite magazines was Wired. He passionately doodled, drew, colored (an avocation he shared with his mother, Mary) and painted a lot in his free time. Some of his favorite things to paint were scenes from Jurassic Park, Star Wars, and various types of robots. He was also an avid reader. He spent a lot of time at the Champaign Public Library perusing the bookshelves for the perfect reads, which he would dive into as soon as he got home.
Some of Isaiah’s best-loved things to do were going to museums, playing video games, and watching Marvel movies. One of his favorite museum trips was in March of 2017, when he took his son Emmett to the Field Museum in Chicago. Isaiah became a bona-fide “tour guide,” showcasing and explaining all of the dinosaur bones, and even substituting in some dino roars/growls here and there. He was a reader of comics, and his siblings remember fondly the trips to the local comic bookstore every weekend to get the latest issue of X-Men or Spider-Man.
Isaiah was a wonderful human. He was a beacon of light at every gathering and people were drawn to him because of this. Today and always, memories of his love, laughter, and goofiness, will bring a smile to faces.
There will be a private memorial service at a later date.