Jim "Digger" Post, age 73, died Tuesday, November 27, of a heart attack in Lompoc, California.

Jim was raised in Madison, Wisconsin where he attended Blessed Sacrament Grade School and graduated from Edgewood High School in 1963.  Shortly afterwards, in the spirit of the '60s, he and friends went to California.  They rented a house on the beach in Hermosa Beach and welcomed all who needed a place to stay.

He graduated from UCLA in 1972, earning an engineering degree.  He worked as a civil engineer and the culmination of this career was working on the Western Space Shuttle program at Vandenberg Air Force Base.  He later bought and ran a car wash business in Lompoc, Auto Magic Car Wash.  Following that, he was employed by the Lompoc Unified School District, both as an adult education teacher and a substitute teacher.

It was in Lompoc that he met Dinah Stone, his partner for many years and the mother of his only and much-loved son, James Turner Post.  He also thought of Dinah's daughters, Randi, Sharlee, and Lindsay Stone as part of his family.

He is survived by his brother John (Val), sister Barbara Jordan (Bill), and many nieces and nephews.  He was predeceased by his mother and father, Richard and Agnes (McCoy) Post and sisters Mary Ann Mix and Pam Holton.

Jim was a kind and generous man who welcomed all into his life.  He had an upbeat take on life and his laugh was familiar to everyone who knew him.  Despite serious medical problems during the last few years, he thought right up to the end that all would be well. In every way that matters, he was a successful man.

Funeral Mass will be at 10:00am Friday December 7, at Queen of Angels Parish with a Celebration of Life to be held on Saturday December 8, at 12:00pm at Thompson Park in Lompoc.