Jon Diem heads to the hoop while playing for Oak Harbor High School. (Photos courtesy Sherry Roberts)
The basketball slides along the young boy’s fingertips for a moment, and then, in one smooth motion, it arcs skyward.
The young boy holds his breath, the ball hits nothing but the bottom of the net, and the young boy exhales, a superstar already on the cracked cement court.
And then the young boy is a young man, and now he’s wearing his school’s uniform, but the look in his eyes, the smile on his face, the feeling of the ball slipping off his fingertips, are all the same.
This time, when the ball hits the bottom of the net, a referee’s hands shoot skyward, the young man’s friends, family and classmates go crazy and the young man is a superstar again, but in a different world.
And then the young man is a grown man, living in the real world, helping nurture the daughter who will continue to carry his name forward, and he is a superstar still.
One day, the grown man, who has endured much hardship in his life, but has remained, against all odds, a kind, caring soul described as “the most talented and humble athlete I have ever known,” leaves our world, too soon.
The sound of the basketball rhythmically hitting the court, the baseball thunking into his mitt, fades, but his memory does not.
For his family, and his friends — which included everyone he played with and against — Jon Diem will always be here.
Diem, who passed away just weeks shy of his 45th birthday, leaves behind seven siblings — brothers David, Michael and Robert and sisters Mary, Cathie, Nancy and Shawn — his father Charles and his beloved daughter Lexie.
Jon and daughter Lexie.
He was preceded in death by his mother, Sara, and will be laid to rest next to her at Coupeville’s Sunnyside Cemetery.
From the moment he popped into the world Feb. 26, 1972, Jon brought a light with him.
One of the most gifted athletes Coupeville has ever seen, he moved up to the big city (Oak Harbor) for high school.
A standout basketball and baseball player while wearing the purple and gold Wildcat uniforms, Diem graduated with the OHHS Class of 1991.
On the hard-court, Jon was a lights-out shooter from long range, a three-ball king in short shorts who lit up the scoreboards while running alongside teammates such as Tony Midyette, Manny Martucci, Pat Herms and Trig Johnson.
Many of the first games I covered for the Whidbey News-Times, in my fledgling journalism career, involved watching Diem drop bombs from all angles against teams like Marysville-Pilchuck or Shorewood.
There wasn’t a spot on the floor on which he didn’t feel confident launching a trey, and he hit an astonishing number of his efforts.
On the baseball field, he was a two-way threat, adept with the bat and his glove while roaming the infield for the ‘Cats.
Diem comes in hot during his diamond days.
Jon played baseball at OHHS from 1988-1991 and was the starting second baseman and cleanup hitter on the Wildcat team that placed second at the 3A state tourney in 1990.
“The thing I remember most about Jon after all these years was his gentleness,” said former longtime OHHS baseball coach Jim Waller. “Teenage boys probably don’t want to be called sweet, but that is the best way to describe him.
“He was quiet and thoughtful, selfless and caring. Although he was shy around the coaching staff, he liked to laugh and would play practical jokes on his teammates.”
As an athlete, Diem had raw talent for days, but it was his work ethic which caught his coach’s attention.
“He was a graceful athlete, one of those players who moved so fluidly that it appeared sports came easily to them,” Waller said. “Yes, he had natural talent, but his success wasn’t solely from his innate ability but from his hard work and dedication to the game.
“He had the qualities all coaches want in an athlete — a strong work ethic, a willingness to put the team first, a willingness to be coached, an ability to laugh and laugh at himself, a hunger to win, a respect for his opponents,” he added. “And, more importantly, those qualities are a mark of a good person as well as a high-character athlete.”
In the days after Jon’s passing, friends and former teammates poured out their love for him on Facebook, and their words paint a picture of a gifted athlete who was a better person.
Of a man who ultimately cared as much, or more, about others accomplishments as his own.
“He was such a stud,” wrote former CHS athletic star Ben Biskovich, who grew up alongside Diem in Coupeville. “Always the best athlete on the field and always so humble.
“When we were picking teams, I always wanted to be on his team.”
That was a thought echoed by Jason LaMont, whose own athletic experiences landed on a different side of the spectrum from Biskovich.
“He (Jon) always treated everyone nice, even me, who sucked at sports,” LaMont said. “Even as a kid, he was building people up.”
For Chris Potts, who stayed in contact with Diem long after high school, it was Diem’s approach to life, and not just sports, which made him so memorable.
“He was an amazing soul, with a humble confidence,” Potts said. “A happy-go-lucky approach to life.
“An amazing sense of humor that was punctuated by a crooked grin and a laugh that invited everyone to join in,” he added. “He had a heart just a chosen few are given in this life.”
Jon’s ability to be the best athlete in the room, or on the field, and yet never make anyone feel like he was lording it over them, carried on after his prep athletic career had ended.
He continued to play in his adult years, making new friends every step of the way.
“Playing together as an adult when it was for the pure love of the game and not the pressures of school, but back to the feeling of being a kid for a few hours,” Steve Van Rensum said.
“Rest easy old friend, teammate and brother. Sit fastball and don’t get cheated.”
In the distance, you can hear it, a soft sound at first that grows with each heartbeat.
The young boy twirls the basketball on his fingertip, then lets it drop into his palm. His breath slips out in a ragged burst and the ball slides off his hands, arcing skyward.
A soft bang as it hits the backboard, a softer swish as it drops through the hoop.
The young boy continues to shoot long after the sky has turned from afternoon into early evening.
It is his escape. It is his love.
The ball drops through the hoop, again and again, and he never stops shooting.
Tonight, and every night, Jon Diem lives on, out there on that court or diamond, in all of our memories.
Jon Diem (1972-2017)
A service for Jon Diem will be held at 11 AM Friday, Feb. 3 at Saint Augustine’s Catholic Church in Oak Harbor. It will be followed by a graveside burial at Sunnyside Cemetery in Coupeville.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Boeing Employee Credit Union.
A college fund has been set up for Jon’s daughter, Lexi Diem. It’s at Bank of America Acct: Lexie Diem college fund; routing #: 125000024; account #: 138122330559.
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