Influential Sonora High Teacher Passes Away
Update: A Celebration of life has been scheduled for Saturday, October 1, 2022 at 2 pm in the Auditorium at Sonora High School.
Sonora, CA — A longstanding and beloved teacher, Max Lemon, has died at the age of 91.
Lemon was born in Oakley, Utah in 1931 and was part of a large family who grew up on a farm. After college, he spent four years teaching at Manilla High School in Dagget County, Utah, and then relocated to Tuolumne County to serve as a science teacher at Sonora High School.
Lemon taught a remarkable 53 years at Sonora High, when taking into account 38 as a full-time teacher and an additional 15 as a part-time substitute. He also contributed as a teacher for the Sierra Conservation Center, Columbia College and Tuolumne County Adult Alternative Education.
In addition, Lemon took on extracurricular roles at Sonora High, working as a standby custodian, facility supervisor for visiting athletic teams, and coordinating community events held on campus.
While firmly planting roots in Sonora, he continued to have a close connection to Utah, and his family would travel back each summer to work on the family farm.
Max and his surviving wife, Janet, had 10 children, 40 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren. He was a devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he and Janet served as full-time missionaries in the Mesa Arizona mission from July 2002-July 2003.
Lemon passed away on Saturday in Sacramento. Funeral services and burial will be held at a later date in Kamus, Utah.
