A memorial service will be held in Gordon Parks Arts Hall on May 26 for the Laboratory Schools community to commemorate the life of Justin Lim, a graduate of the Class of 2021, who died May 17 in Chicago. He was 19 and in his first year at Princeton University. 

During his time at Lab, Justin was an avid member of the U-High tennis team. He also enjoyed math and statistics and was a member of Ethics Bowl.

Justin’s math teacher, Shelby Lunte, remembers Justin as always positive. The two bonded over a long-standing and often humorous debate about pets. 

“Somehow that year, we started a battle with each other about whether dogs or cats are better. I, of course, took the position that cats are better, he took the position that dogs are better. This battle lasted until he graduated,” Ms. Lunte said. “I have countless emails from him. I actually have a bunch of Post-it notes that he would send to me, just talking about cats and dogs. It’s just something that has made me laugh that I’ve had up here, you know, since he was at this school.” 

Junior Yaseen Qureshi, Justin’s tennis teammate, remembers him as someone who always treated the people around him with respect, no matter the situation.

“He had this, I guess, humanity to him. He opened up to anybody he met. And even if other people didn’t treat him the same way that he treated other people, he kept that level of decency,” Yaseen said. “He was a great person.”

Yaseen is especially grateful to Justin for helping him through the toughest times in high school.

  “Justin gave me the sense of belonging,” Yaseen said. “I think it’s also in that time that I kind of thought of him as more of a friend but also more like an older brother because he was really there for me during tough moments of my life.”

Justin is survived by his parents, Yung Bong and Peggy, and brother Jake, a 2019 U-High alumnus.

A visitation and service will be held May 25 at Willow Chicago, 1347 S. State Street. Visitation will be from 5-6:30 p.m., with a service at 6:30 p.m. followed by a reception from 7:15-8 p.m.

The campus memorial service will be May 26 will begin at 6 p.m. followed by a reception from 7-8 p.m. The event will also be livestreamed.

The family encouraged attendees of either memorial service to wear Justin’s favorite color yellow, the Princeton colors of orange and black, or a pair of shorts. 

Two memorial funds have been created in Justin’s memory: the Justin Se Geun Lim ’21 Memorial Fund at the Laboratory Schools and the Justin Se Geun Lim ’25 Memorial Fund at Princeton.