Julian Eli Lehrer

Julian Eli Lehrer

Today, our son would have celebrated his 23rd birthday. Instead, with profound heartache and grief, we begin the journey of honoring his memory. Our precious son, Julian Eli Lehrer, passed a month and a half ago, on July 1. Humble, exquisitely sensitive and kind, Julian treasured, above all things, genuineness in others. While soft and accommodating in nature, Julian was guided by a rooted set of principles and beliefs. He was a fearless advocate for the underdog and held a healthy disregard for hypocrisy of any kind. He was an avid reader with a sensitive ear for language and a beautiful, effortless writer—one with true promise. Like most writers, he possessed a keen eye for people but was quick to see the best in them. He was a lover of animals—especially dogs—and some of our favorite pictures are of him as a child, lovingly cocooned in the furry coats of his six dogs, Alfie, Goldie, Ernie, Max, Vanilla and Gracie, all of whom he treasured. He had a generous laugh, an easy-going sense of humor and a gift for mimicry. He loved music, all kinds—beats that made him move and lyrics that made him think. During his last couple of years, he acquired a genuine love for country music-- the stories, the simple melodic progressions and notably the lyrics that touched his heart. On weekends he loved to party, to let loose, and to dance, at which he was uniquely expressive and talented. He had a long-running love affair with junk food and he never met a vegetable he liked.

Julian's mind was a vast repository of facts and statistics, especially when it came to sports, which he loved. Off the top of his head, he could name every minor league baseball team in the United States--the out of the way towns they played in and the players among their ranks who had the promise of advancing to the Big Leagues. He visited many of the stadiums and as a child would wait patiently after the games behind the dugouts, with his autograph book in hand and his eyes trained on the player whose autograph he sought. He obtained Mike Trout's autograph this way, whose career he followed religiously, along with so many other athletes. He loved most sports, with one caveat-- they had to be played with a ball.

His one exception to this rule was hockey, which eventually became his favorite sport and the Arizona Coyotes his favorite team, surprising us all, given his love for the Clippers, the Angels, and the Patriots. His favorite pastime, however, were Saturdays with his fraternity brothers, cheering on the ASU Sun Devils football team. If the Sun Devils lost he was inconsolable.

Julian loved his experiences at ASU-- all of them--but certainly at the top of this list was his membership in Sigma Alpha Mu. It was there that Julian, an only child, discovered the fraternity with others he had wished for his whole life; never had a young man taken the oath of brotherhood with more solemnity than Julian. He was a Sammy to the core.

Julian possessed a passion for politics, which started at a young age. Every day he would rush home from junior high school to watch the latest episode of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Julian was a fourth-year Political Science Major who decided to dedicate his career to politics after the election of Donald Trump. He first worked as an intern for Heather Ross' in her bid for congress in 2018 and then a Fellow with the Arizona Democratic Party to help elect Senator Kyrsten Sinema. In mid-2019, Julian was one among three hundred students nationwide to be selected to participate in Organizing Corps 2020, a DNC training program that prepares college seniors to work as field organizers in battleground states for the 2020 general election. He was then elected President of the Arizona State University Young Democrats, a job he loved that opened doors to meaningful friendships borne from a common cause. He loved his time with the Young Dems and months before he passed he wrote the following:

"Defeating Donald Trump represents the most monumental task that our nation has faced in a generation. Democrats must win Arizona in order to assure a victorious campaign, and turning out Arizona State University students is absolutely critical in order to do so. As the largest university in the country, ASU has the capacity to swing the outcome of the presidential, statewide, and local elections. Our goal is to ensure that every ASU student eligible to vote is registered to vote, and provided a space to engage in the political process."

We deeply mourn Julian's passing and what could have been for a life that held so much love and promise. We will always treasure the many memories we were blessed to share with him. We love you, son--may you forever rest in peace.

Your Loving Parents

In lieu of flowers, we ask that a donation be made to the Arizona Senatorial campaign of Mark Kelly, in Julian's memory.