Obituary of Wishard Lemons

Although it wouldn't start showing up on T-shirts until much later, Wish Lemons' "Gotta Keep Movin' " mantra was pretty much true of him from the beginning. A former associate minister at Tulsa's First United Methodist Church and the inspiration behind the annual Wish Lemons 5k Run, Lemons served more than four years in the Pacific during World War II. Later, as an oil-field chaplain, he ministered to roughnecks and other industry employees at work sites around the world. Even in retirement, when he was back home to stay, Lemons never willingly slowed the pace. An icon of Tulsa's senior running community, Wishard F. "Wish" Lemons Jr. died Wednesday. He was 96. A service is set for 2 p.m. Jan. 22 at the First United Methodist Church under the direction of Ninde Brookside Funeral Home. Across the front of the annual Lemons Run T-shirts ran the appropriately peppy slogan. " 'Gotta Keep Movin' that's my motto for life," Lemons told the Tulsa World in 2004. "Death is cessation of motion, so you can just check yourself every day to see about how close you are." Inspired by Lemons, the Lemons 5k was started more than a decade ago to raise money for First United Methodist Church's missions. Lemons and his wife, Wanda Lemons, were regulars at the race, as well as at the Tulsa Run and scores of other charity races. Always excited to promote running among aging Tulsans, the Lemonses were latecomers to the sport themselves. He took it up at 45. When she eventually followed suit, running became a way of life for the couple, as they met new people and raised money for their favorite causes. Wish Lemons continued running into his late 80s, until an accident forced him to rein it in. "He fractured his hip. It was before a race, and he was dancing for the ladies, of course," his daughter, Laurie Greiner, quipped. From then on, Lemons consented to walk, although with one condition. "He always insisted on jogging across the finish line," Greiner said. "When he'd see it ahead, he'd start running." A native of Muskogee, Lemons graduated from high school in Oklahoma City and was working on a doctorate at Boston University when WWII interrupted his plans. Joining the Navy, he spent 4 1/2 years aboard the USS San Francisco, a heavy cruiser, in the Pacific. More than half of the sailors on his ship had been killed by the war's end. Lemons, who went on to become an ordained United Methodist minister, was no stranger to loss. His first wife died, leaving him with three young sons. He met Wanda soon after, however, and they fell in love. Lemons, who held a master's degree in philosophy from the University of Oklahoma and a master of divinity degree from Drew University, came to First United Methodist Church in Tulsa as an associate minister. In the mid-1970s, he left to work as an oilfield chaplain for Parker Drilling Co. For the next two decades, until he retired in 1994, the man known as the "missionary in a hard hat" traveled to and from such diverse locales as Alaska, Singapore and Brazil. "Dad definitely enjoyed his life," Greiner said. "He was a very unique character." Lemons was preceded in death by his wife of 54 years, Wanda Lemons. Survivors include his four sons, Clark, Don, Gary and Mark Lemons; one daughter, Laurie Greiner; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.