Long before becoming Omaha Magazine’s vice president of operations and chief operations officer, Tyler Lemke started working at Our City magazine in 1989 with brother/publisher Todd Lemke while still in college at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The Papillion High School graduate (Class of ’85) also worked for a time at Vitality Magazine. He wore the most hats of anyone employed at Omaha Magazine—ad salesperson, deliveryman, accountant, graphic designer, art director…even janitor. Most recently, his primary duties involved: advertiser billing/accounting, overseeing the Best of Omaha contest, and managing all company information and technology needs. He was a doting father of three daughters and avid motorcyclist.

Born Nov. 2, 1966, he died at age 52 on March 23, 2019. He is survived by two daughters, Sarah Eve Lemke and Danielle Rose Lemke; his mother Gwenivere D. Lemke; brothers RL Scott Lemke (and wife Amy), Todd Raymond Lemke (and wife Sandy), and Bradley Stephen Lemke; and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends. He was preceded in death by infant daughter Vivian Leigh Lemke and father Raymond L. Lemke.

Memories from Colleagues

Tyler, my talented and loyal brother, had been at the magazine for over 25 years (holding jobs like sales, design, accounting, IT, and more) Tyler was the original creator of HER Magazine and Bride & Groom Magazine. He was a loving father, son, brother, uncle, cousin, and friend who put others first. He believed in the individual and freely gave everyone his time and expertise. His absence is a great loss at work and an irreplaceable loss for our family.

—Todd Lemke (publisher)

Tyler was extremely funny and loved to poke fun at himself. He had a great sense of humor and could have me laughing so hard, I had tears. He loved to try new things that were organic and natural. I remember all his different smoothies over the years, and how he loved to talk about using coconut oil; him sneaking around eating chocolate from anyone that had some sitting out; and talking to me about his online dating funnies (and how funny women could be, and not be). Tyler was so very methodical—about anything from fixing your computer, to folding banners to go inside Best of Omaha envelopes, to explaining/showing each step through any particular process. He was so very smart and analytical. He had a funny voicemail that he is rarely in the office, but he was actually almost always here. I will miss him terribly.

—Sandy Matson (assistant to the publisher)

After nearly 17 years working together, I have a ton of stories about Tyler. Tyler was one person I sought counsel from—for everything. From personal life to health, computing, or buying a car, he was informed and always did his due diligence. I took it for granted that he would always be there because he was. He made me laugh, question many of my preconceived ideas, and introduced me to the “Illuminati” ;). I never once saw him be cruel, mean, or disrespectful to anyone. He asked me every single day if I was OK, "Do you need anything?” and I’m pretty sure he did that to everyone. I wish I would have asked him the same more often. I traveled a bit with Sarah on shoots and we would talk about her dad from time to time. I would tell her, “ I love your dad,” not realizing I really meant it. Tyler became a brother of mine and I’ll miss him dearly. RIP Tyler, we love you, buddy.

—Bill Sitzmann (associate publisher)

I never had a dull moment with Tyler. I loved his quirky humor and sage-like wisdom when it came to all things tech. Every time I heard him coming to the art room door, I knew I’d be laughing and we’d be trying to outdo each other’s dry jokes. He knew how to make us laugh during the most intense weeks of magazine upload. A handful of times, when he would ask “can I help you,” we would randomly joke about wanting Raising Cane’s, and he’d go out secretly bringing meals back to the art room. Anytime I ever needed computer equipment or art materials, he always went out of his way to make sure I got it—even if that meant coming in on the weekend to get things up and running. In the two and a half years I worked with him, he was there almost every day, and I knew I could count on him if I needed help with anything. There was even a time he raced back after 5 p.m. on a Friday upload day to recover a file I accidentally deleted. Tyler definitely felt like an uncle to me. I will deeply miss his kung fu in the hallways, scaring him at the front door, and racing him to the last donut.

—Derek Joy (senior designer)

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Published in the May 2019 edition of Omaha Magazine, this is a condensed version of colleagues' tributes to Tyler Lemke. The full version can be found at https://omahamagazine.com/articles/tyler-lemke-in-memoriam/.

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