Jody Martin Emery Jr.

Jody Martin Emery, age 45, passed away on May 25, 2026, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Jody was born on November 9, 1980, in Salt Lake City to Lorilei Escalante and Jody Emery Sr.

Jody was a loving, vibrant man who lived life to the fullest. He deeply loved spending time with his family and was always excited for every spontaneous weekend trip or adventure that came along. He especially loved snowboarding and looked forward to every chance he got to hit the mountains with family and friends. He brought energy and humor everywhere he went.

Jody loved creativity. He enjoyed playing Minecraft, making art, and eating sushi with his children. He was an avid Pokemon GO player and loved sharing the adventure with family. Some of his favorite memories were spent cooking homemade candy and making jam alongside his children and his mother. Jody also taught himself how to crochet and sew. He even made his own dress shirts, taking pride in creating things with his own hands. He adored his two cats: Geronimo, who he once begged his mother to let him keep, and his beloved hairless cat Tumbleweed, who happily rode on his shoulder everywhere he went - even grocery shopping, much to the delight of store employees.

He was endlessly fascinated by science and technology, especially quantum physics, and loved sharing every new thing he learned with anyone willing to listen. He closely followed developments in space exploration, including SpaceX launches and discoveries involving the Hubble and James Webb Telescopes. Science was such a passion for him that he often fell asleep to science videos playing on his TV. Jody was also a math genius whose intelligence amazed the people around him. He enjoyed building and programming his own electronics and was always eager to understand how things worked.

Jody never had an easy life, but he had a full one. He never wasted time and was always determined to keep learning and growing. During a period of incarceration, he dedicated himself to education and personal growth. He earned certifications from Davis Applied Technology College in Business Technology, Automotive Technology, and Machine Tool Technology. His dedication to education while incarcerated was even featured in a Deseret News article discussing the value of prison education programs. Here's a link for that article: https://www.deseret.com/2011/2/7/20172180/value-of-an-inmate-research-indicates-that-additional-educational-training-in-prisons-reduces-crime/

Above all else, Jody loved his family fiercely.

He is survived by his daughter, Kaiwe Emery (Justin Pickering); his son, Skyler Emery; his stepdaughter, Addison Hayda; his mother, Lorilei Escalante (Cory Losser); his father, Jody Emery Sr.; his sister, Brandy Kinder (Brandon); his brother, Ryan Emery; his sister, Lorilei Barkley (Adam); his brother, Zach Zimmerman; favorite aunt, Ramona; his close friend, Heather Jensen; and a large, loud, and loving extended family.

Jody will be remembered for his intelligence, curiosity, humor, resilience, and the deep love he had for the people and animals in his life.

Services will be held Saturday, June 6, 2026 at Peel Funeral Home in Magna, Utah. The viewing will be held at 12:00 pm followed by the funeral at 1:00 pm. His favorite color was purple, so we encourage purple attire if able.