John Roger Lemke Sr.

Johnny Roger Lemke, SR 73 of El Dorado, AR passed away peacefully at his residence on Monday, July 15, 2019. Born February 27, 1946 in Hickory Ridge, Arkansas he was the son of Louie Marshal and Virginia Carrol Lemke.

Johnny learned the value of hard work on the family farm tending the rice fields. That hard work transferred to his skill as a basketball player. He played on the All-District basketball team and earned a scholarship to Southern Baptist College where he played for two years before transferring to Arkansas State University and earned a Bachelor of Science degree.

Johnny loved fast cars and began drag racing in a 1940 Willis Coupe called the “Gold Brick”. It was a family affair as his brother helped work on the car and his parents and little sister came to watch. He met and married Peggy Freshour and they started a family. He always had a dream to move West, so he and his family moved to Wyoming. This is where he began his career in the car business. He started as a salesman and quickly worked his way up to Sales Manager. This career would span 40 plus years and take him down many roads. He met and married Beth Ayers in 1987 and they took a leap of faith and moved to Alaska in 1988. Not knowing a soul there, he worked hard and was top salesman his first month there. He quickly became General Manager. While there he enjoyed hunting, fishing and model airplanes.

In 1994 John found a job in Santa Fe, NM. After enduring an overseas move from Alaska it became apparent the job was not as advertised so he moved on down to Phoenix, Arizona and excelled at each dealership he worked for. In 2008 John decided to retire and move back to Arkansas to be closer to family. He was called out of retirement by Jeff Teague and went to work for Teague Auto Group in El Dorado, AR. He was General Manager at the time of his passing. He loved the challenge of the car business and had the utmost respect for those he worked for and with. He made many lifelong friends from customers and colleagues alike.

John was an avid sportsman which led him to opportunities to write hunting stories for Peterson’s Hunting magazine. He also had the opportunity to travel to Africa and hunt for trophy game for a museum in Kansas City for display. He loved golf and became a scratch golfer.

After he moved back to Arkansas he and his wife became involved with Single Action Shooting Society. This was a game where they dressed like cowboys from the late 1800’s and shoot six shooters and replica rifles from that same period along with shotguns. He took the alias of “Beaver John” with his wife as “Antelope Annie”. As with anything John did, he worked hard on his game and became World Champion in 2018. This was a high honor and hard to achieve and worth bragging rights. He was very proud of this accomplishment.

John was preceded in death by his parents and a younger brother, David Lemke.

Survivors include his wife, Beth Lemke of El Dorado, sons, John R. Lemke, Jr. (Betty) of Wynne, AR, Terry Melvin Lemke of New York City, NY and Berry Marshal Lemke of Little Rock, AR, children from his first marriage to Peggy Freshour Holland, along with a sister, Sandy Lemke Holland Gilchrist (Willie) of Greensboro, NC. Surviving grandchildren are Ariel Carpenter (Dalton), Johnny Lemke III (Kate Smith), Kelsey Weber (Brett) and Chandler Grunzke and great-grandchildren, Teddy Lemke and River Carpenter.

A Celebration of Life will be held, Saturday, July 20, 2019 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Thompson-Wilson Funeral Home in Wynne, Arkansas.

A second Celebration of Life service will be held at Young’s Funeral Directors in El Dorado on Wednesday, July 31, 2019 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Memorial may be made to the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS) Scholarship Fund, 215 Cowboy Way, Edgewood, NM 87015.

An online registry will be available at www.youngsfuneralhome.com.