James "Jim" Owen Sr., of Lompoc, California, passed away in the comfort

of his own home with his son on February 3, 2022; following complications from a series of strokes.

Born on December 14, 1938, in Kimball, Kansas, Jim grew up living on a few different farms in the area. He began schooling in a one-room schoolhouse which was closed the following year, resulting in his transfer to Stark Elementary School. He then attended Grant Township High School, the same high school that his parents had graduated from in their youth. After graduating high school, Jim worked as both a farmer and a welder. In 1959, he moved to Chanute, Kansas, where he entered into the U.S. Airforce. His basic training was completed at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, followed by the technical school at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi. Afterward, Jim was transferred to the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. At the time, Lompoc was but a small community. However, the booming missile industry would soon give rise to the rapid growth of both Vandenberg and Lompoc. Jim went on to work on the Atlas Missile program during its weapon systems days and was on alert duty during the Francis Powers U2 confrontation with Russia, and the Cuban missile crisis. He experienced the Atlas transformation from a weapons system to a space launch vehicle. He bore witness to the buildup of the Vietnam War and was even offered the opportunity to transfer to the United States Army as a Warrant Officer to fly helicopter gunships in Vietnam. He ultimately chose to forego that opportunity and when his enlistment ended, he was honorably discharged on November 6, 1962, as a First Class Airman.

Following his military service, Jim embarked on a 34-year-long enjoyable and prosperous career at ITT Federal Services International Corporation. He served in several technical and supervisory positions involving range safety, instrumentation, communications, and computer systems analysis. Jim participated in designing and implementing several communications switching systems both at Vandenberg AFB, California, and at Wheeler AFB, Hawaii. In July of 1996, Jim retired from ITT as a Supervisor Specialist; he took a year off to relax and travel, until returning to ITT as a sub-contractor working for ACTA/Info Vision. After a while, he transferred to ACTAsc to provide technical services to the 30th Space Wing, Space Communications Squadron.

Alongside a busy career, Jim was also a passionate family man. In 1962, he married JoAnn McVay and adopted her young son Douglas, although the couple divorced in 1966. In 1968, Jim married Emma Jo Hennesay and adopted her two young daughters, Robin and Cyndi, into his heart. In 1970, Jim and Emma had a son, James Owen Jr.

Jim lived an exciting and rewarding life and spent time giving back to his community. He engaged in volunteer police work as a hobby, which was replaced in his later years with creating, editing, and filming home videos of his grandchildren as they grew up. He was a talented musician and played the acoustic guitar in a country band that would frequent the Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation Center as well as The Lilly Building in Lompoc. Although, his musical talents shined brightest when he would play by the firepits of family campouts.

Jim is survived by his son, James Owen Jr and his granddaughter Alyssa Owen, along with his stepdaughters Robin DeLauer (husband Greg) and Cyndi Pecyna (husband Doug); grandchildren Robert Smith (wife Isabelle), Brent Smith (wife Jenna), Caleb Smith, Zachary Pecyna (wife Alex), Kelcie Jo Raecyna (husband Connar); and several great-grandchildren. Jim's memorial service will be held at First United Methodist Church of Lompoc on Saturday, April 2nd, 2022, at 11am. Any questions can be directed to Alyssa who can be reached by phone at (805) 315-1339.