MORRISTOWN, Tenn. (WATE) — Taylor Lemka wasn’t surprised to hear that her husband, Tristan Lemka, was found helping someone in need. Now, she is mourning him after he died while trying to help a crash victim on Sunday.
“He’s always caring about everybody else,” she said.
That includes her and their one-month-old daughter. Lemka said their little girl was his whole world.
“Every time he would come home he would always take her away from me and just talk to her for like an hour,” Lemka said.
They had been married for just more than a year, and they had been blessed with a gift of a baby girl. “He cried. He was super excited. He wanted a boy. But, as soon as she came out she was, he was wrapped around her finger.”
Looking back, she wouldn’t have it any other way. At least her husband was able to hold their daughter in his arms before he died. Lemka said she wasn’t at home when she heard the news of her husband.
“I was at my Mammy’s house and I have a ring doorbell. And the cops told me over my ring doorbell,” Lemka said.
Tristan holding his baby shortly after she was born. (Photos via Lemka) 
Tristan and Taylor Lemka and their little girl. (Photos courtesy of Lemka, Through the Looking Glass) 
Engagement photo of Tristan and Taylor Lemka (Photo via Lori Horner) 
Tristan and Taylor Lemka at their wedding (Photo via Jessica Collins)
According to a crash report, her husband was involved in a crash on southbound Highway 160. The other vehicle came to a rest in the left lane of the roadway and Tristan Lemka got out of his vehicle to render aid to the other driver.
That vehicle was then struck by another oncoming vehicle, pushing the car into Tristan Lemka while he was trying to help the driver. Lemka said her husband was on his way to church when the accident took place.
She said he had been preaching since 2018, although more as a fill-in pastor or by request. He would also travel to the Philippines to preach. “He didn’t think he was a good one. But he was,” Lemka said.
He was her best friend. They’d known each other for years and started dating towards the end of high school. “He was always joking. He was always trying to make everybody smile. He literally lit up the room.”
She said her husband was very into video games, making random trips to Walmart and could sing just about every song. He would also do anything for anyone. When their daughter grows up, Lemka said those are all the qualities their daughter will know about her father.
“Just how good of a person he was. And how caring he was. And how loving he was,” Lemka said.
Lemka is thankful for her huge support system, now that she is a single mother and widow mourning the unexpected loss of her husband. the family is asking for donations to help Lemka and her baby. Any donation can be sent to Roe Junction Baptist Church at 2140 Sulphur Springs Rd, Morristown, TN 37813.
