Richard Lemley

Richard Blair Lemley was born at Lubbock Memorial Hospital on May 4, 1953 to J. H. and Dorothy Blair Lemley. He was the oldest of four brothers; George, Mike and James.

 

Life with four boys was adventuresome; the brothers enjoyed exploring Slaton Canyon; and kept snakes, a parakeet and a racoon; among various other pets.

He graduated from Idalou High School before enlisting in the Navy in 1972. He served as a jet mechanic, working on F-18s, through 1978. During this time, some of Richard’s fellow sailors shared the gospel with him, and he became a Christian.

He returned to Slaton and got a job at the Texas Tech power plant, working as a mechanic. A coworker invited him to visit University Christian Fellowship, where he became an active participant. It was there he met Edie Elder and there that he tried her banana bread. He liked to say afterward that it was that bread that made him fall in love with her. He asked her to marry him six times, the seventh time, she said yes.

The couple were married Aug. 22 of 1981.

That same year, he began working for Lubbock Power and Light. He worked there more than 30 years, advancing to the role of Senior Control Room Operator.

 

They had four children: Emily Joy Booker; Jenny Lurene Gross; Richard Jefferson; and Timothy Blair.
 

He loved to play games, including Seven Toed-Sloth; Canasta; Triominos; and Scattergories. He was notoriously good at chicken foot, to the point that he eventually ran out of people willing to play with him.

He was highly imaginative and creative. He planned and built his children an elaborate, two-story playhouse. He enjoyed sketching, reading and watching YouTube about tiny houses.

 

He was a gifted storyteller with an extensive vocabulary, and he loved to ruminate over his life and adventures.

 

In his later years, he delighted in his granddaughters Exie and Jaxynn. Spending many hours playing imaginative games, talking together and reading.

 

He is survived by his wife, Edie; of Lubbock; his children, Emily Booker and her daughters, Tambrean Booker; Exie Windell and Jaxynn Knittel, all of Lubbock; Jenny Gross and her husband, Danny, of Seattle, Wa.; Ricky Lemley and Timothy Lemley, both of Lubbock. He is also survived by his siblings Barbara Peteich, of Rogers, Arkansas; George Lemley of Austin; Mike Lemley of Austin; and James Lemley of San Angelo.