OBITUARY: Prudence Louise Baker, 1933-2025

LoCO Staff / Thursday, June 19 @ 6:56 a.m. / Obits

Prudence Louise Baker
January 18, 1933 – May 30, 2025
92 trips around the sun, every one on her terms

Prudence Louise Baker, age 92, of Fortuna, left this world on May 30, 2025, after nearly a century of strong coffee, stronger opinions and zero patience for fools.

Let’s be real: if we wrote a boring, buttoned-up obituary, Prudie would haunt us, and probably correct our grammar while she was at it. So in her honor, we offer this tribute full of sass, sarcasm and absolutely no filter. Just the way she liked it.

Born January 18, 1933, in Oakland, Prudie’s family moved to Bridgeville when she was four, and she spent the next 88 years perfecting the side-eye. Known as the “Queen of the Glen,” she held court over Suntan Glen with sharp wit, flawless timing and an eyebrow arch that could stop a grown man in his tracks. 

She was tough. Most people knew not to mess with her, yet her sons apparently didn’t get that memo and were routinely dealt with, verbally, emotionally and occasionally with whatever household item was closest to hand.

She had the soul of an artist and the mouth of someone with no time to waste. A gifted painter, Prudie first expressed herself on canvas before turning to hairdressing, a trade that required the same creativity, confidence and ability to say, “Sweetheart, that’s just not your color,” with a smile. She ran Prudie’s Beauty Spot in the ’70s, then styled hair (and humbled egos) at Hair West well into the ’80s.

Prudie also dabbled in the fine art of matrimony. Twice, in fact, before finally getting it right with Lee Baker. But those chapters gave her four of the greatest gifts of her life, her children. Each one arrived with their own personality, their own story, and their own lifelong role as either recipient or witness of her trademark sarcasm, brutal honesty and fierce devotion. She may have moved on from their dads, but she never let go of the purpose they gave her: motherhood, in all its messy, beautiful chaos.

When she met Lee, it wasn’t just a match, it was a partnership built on laughter, loyalty and a shared love of holding court from behind the bar.

Together, Prudie and Lee owned and operated The Rendezvous Lounge in Rio Dell, a place where the drinks were strong, the stories stronger, and the regulars knew better than to argue with Prudie about the jukebox selection or bad mouthing the Raiders’. She and Lee didn’t just run a bar, they ran a community. Their reach extended beyond the lounge walls to the softball field, where they sponsored the legendary Rendezvous Softball team, aka “Da Vous.” The team proudly decked out in silver and black like her beloved Raiders. Rivals dubbed them “the Evil Empire.” Prudie called them “her boys.” She and Lee were at every game, every cookout and every post-game exaggeration session where last-minute home runs and beer-fueled brawls became part of local legend.

A die-hard Raider fan, she bled silver and black to the end. In her 80s she still showed up, or tuned in, to watch her youngest granddaughter battle through middle-school, high-school and college hoops. And let’s be honest, filters get worse with age, and Prudie’s was about 99% clogged before she ever walked into a gym or public event. She kept score in her head and commentary under her breath… nope, that’s not true, she said exactly what she wanted to say, loudly and directly. As usual.

She also went semi-viral in her golden years thanks to her Facebook antics, where her popularity grew with her sharp and witty responses to her sons. She had a talent for saying exactly what everyone else was thinking, but with better timing and fewer apologies.

She is survived by her children and the glorious chaos they created: Michele Harris of Hydesville, and daughter Alexis; Curt “Scooter” Harris of Redding and his daughters Lindsey, Rachel, and Taylor; Paige Asbury of Carlotta and her children Michael, Matthew, Mitchell, Marcus, and Melissa; Chip Stewart of Knoxville, Tenn., with wife Mary and their children Kendall and Jacob

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband Lee (likely holding a cold drink and rolling with laughter at all of this), her parents Mary and Herman Versell, and her half-sister Dorothy Gregg.

For all the laughs, Prudie was the kind of mom everyone hopes for: fiercely protective, wildly supportive, brutally honest and endlessly loving. She taught resilience, independence and how to fire off a comeback at lightning speed. She didn’t always get it right, but she always showed up. She made home feel safe, and her presence, whether in the bleachers, behind a hair dryer, or at the end of a snarky Facebook cameo, made people feel known, loved and never forgotten.

A private family service was held, low on ceremony, high on stories. In lieu of flowers, donations toward burial costs are welcome.

Prudie wasn’t perfect, but she was perfectly herself: hilarious, fierce, honest and unapologetically real. If heaven has some bleachers on the court, or comfy lounge chairs in the grass on the field, she’s already making it known who she’s pulling for, and watching.

So behave and be careful what you say.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Prudie Baker’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.


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OBITUARY: Cathy Linda Paul, 1948-2025

LoCO Staff / Thursday, June 19 @ 6:56 a.m. / Obits

Cathy Linda Paul passed away peacefully, with her husband John by her side, on her 77th birthday, on Monday, May 12, 2025, in Eureka. She was born in Merced on May 12, 1948. She was a guiding light in our lives, a caring and fun-loving wife as well as her husband’s best friend, a devoted mother and grandmother, and a woman who touched everyone who knew her.

Cathy was the only child of George and Katherine Bremer, and they moved often while George was in the Air Force, including stays in Ogden, Utah, and Riverside, California. After George’s retirement, they stayed in Riverside before moving to San Diego and then Hemet, California. Cathy graduated from Norte Vista High School in Riverside and then took classes at San Diego State for several years until she “got fed up with the old-fashioned attitudes of the Home Economics Department.” It was at this time, while Cathy was working at a fabric store in Pacific Beach, sewing her clothes and advising homeowners from La Jolla about fabric for draperies and curtains, that she went with a guitar player when he played at the San Diego Navy Training Center Enlisted Men’s Club, and she danced with a sailor from Kansas. Cathy started going back to the EM Club without the guitar player, and either the sailor swept her off her feet, or she swept him off his. Cathy and John were married on September 14, 1968, and they kept “sweeping” each other for the next 57 years.

Cathy and John moved around the country for the Navy, to Vallejo, California, Idaho Falls, Idaho, Charleston, South Carolina, and back to Idaho Falls, Idaho. In Vallejo and Idaho Falls, Cathy worked for Sears, measuring and selling draperies and window coverings. During the second half of the Navy period, they were blessed with a beautiful baby girl and boy.

After they got out of the Navy, the family moved to Eureka when John went to work for PG&E. Cathy, while taking care of the family, went back to work managing the Discount Fabrics store, and then went to Daly’s Department store, measuring and selling window coverings, as well as supervising the sewing workroom. Cathy always had an entrepreneurial mindset and decided to start her own business. (Not an easy task with two small kids and a husband working shift work at PG&E.) She was determined, so she quit her job and started her own company, The Drapery, specializing in window coverings and interior design work. She also started a drapery sewing workroom in the family’s converted garage, sourced all the industrial sewing machines, employed several seamstresses, and oversaw the production of custom-made drapes that she designed and sold to clients. After several years, Cathy sold the business and equipment to Baker & Stanton and then worked for them selling furniture. Following that, Cathy worked for White House Furniture.

When Cabbage Patch dolls were introduced, Cathy began collecting them and creating clothes for them. She discovered a demand for her doll clothes at local craft bazaars and created nearly a hundred different designs, including those of firemen, nurses, surfers, ballerinas, teddy bears, rabbits, Cub Scouts, Brownie Scouts, and beachwear outfits. She once received a cease-and-desist letter from the Boy Scouts of America because the Cub Scouts’ uniform was too similar. Once Cathy got started in the craft bazaar circuit, she switched to hand-made stuffed rabbits, in dresses with petticoats, bloomers, ribbon, lace, and jewelry. She enlisted her family to stuff hundreds of rabbit bodies.

Constantly reinventing herself and jumping onto the next trend, Cathy decided to attend Frederick & Charles beauty school to obtain her manicurist degree and license. She embarked on a new career, but she found that she preferred to get her own nails done instead of doing other people’s nails, and so she retired.

Cathy is survived by her husband John Paul, daughter Cori Reed (David), son Chris Paul (Amy Leah), grandsons Colin and Cameron Paul, the mother of her grandsons, Darlee Overzet (Eric), and granddaughters Dani and Katie Reed. Cathy was preceded in death by her father, George, and mother, Katherine.

A family graveside service will be held on July 12 at Oceanside Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, charitable donations can be made to the charity of your choice. Cathy’s favorite charities were Food For People and the local pet shelters and humane societies.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Cathy Paul’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.



OBITUARY: Robert Wayne Printy, 1949-2025

LoCO Staff / Thursday, June 19 @ 6:56 a.m. / Obits

Robert Wayne Printy, known by everyone as “Wayne,” was born to Fred and Joan Printy on October 1, 1949, in Eureka, where he grew up attending Lincoln Elementary, Eureka High School, and College of the Redwoods, earning his education. In college, he wrote a thesis on “The Effects of Consuming Too Much Television.”

Exiting college, he became a part of the commercial fishing industry, where he traveled along the coast, reaching Fort Bragg and numerous ports in between. He truly enjoyed being on the water and being outdoors.

Some years later, he welcomed his first child, Andrea Printy, followed by his son, Roben Printy, and his youngest daughter, Melessa Printy-Casson. Wayne owned two boats, one of which he built by hand with his father, Fred. The boat they built was named “Andrea Rae,” and the other was named “The Queen City.”

At times, he would feel adventurous and go on what he would refer to as his “walkabouts,” where he would travel to different states. Wayne not only loved to fish, but he loved hunting and keeping his truck in tip-top shape so he could sit comfortably, cup of coffee in hand, reading his favorite books by the bay.

He passed away due to a sudden illness on May 17, 2025. Wayne is preceded in death by his parents, Fred and Joan Printy; his youngest sibling, Leslie Sauls; and his grandson, Andrew Bennett.

He is survived by his sisters, Wanda (Ken) Dougherty, Wendy (Jim) Smith, and Billy Sauls; his children, Andrea Printy, Roben Printy, and Melessa Printy-Casson (her three children); grandchildren, Raina (Thomas) Uber and Kayla (Daniel) Rockholt; along with 11 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews; and his very dear friends, Mike (Chun) Watts, Frank McKay, Wayne Watts, Susan Hubbard, and Jim Pell.

Wayne truly loved his entire family.

There will be a celebration of life held Saturday, June 28, from 11 a.m.–3 p.m. at the Humboldt County Peace Officers Hall, located at 2351 Freshwater Road, Eureka, CA 95503.

Note: Going out Freshwater Road, the driveway is on your left at the third speed bump. Please honor all speed limits.

The family asks for all who knew and loved Wayne to come out, exchange stories and celebrate a wonderful man.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Wayne Printy’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.



(VIDEO) Here’s Your First Sneak Peek at What the Bay Trail Looks Like Behind the Old Mill at Brainard!

Hank Sims / Wednesday, June 18 @ 2:34 p.m. / Trails

Video: Shane Mizer.

We’re still nine days away from the glorious, long-awaited official opening of the Eureka-Arcata Bay Trail, and what a day that will be! It’s gonna be a full day-long party in both cities, with a bevy of activities — a fun run, a community skate event, a group bike ride, bike-friendly shuttles running in both directions — and it’s all culminating with a giant party at the Adorni Center from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Find all the details in the press release below.

In the meanwhile: We can’t help but notice, as we are sure you have noticed, the asphalt on this sucker has already been laid down. That means that even though work has not quite been finished, and the ribbon has not yet been cut, some people are jumping the gun.

We at the Outpost do not condone such behavior. To the scofflaws who so trespass, we can only offer the LoCO Curse: Follow the instructions of any construction workers you run across without fail, and don’t fuck up the new pavement in any way, or find yourself damned to eternal torment.

Still, a former Friend o’ the LoCO today sent the above video, which kind of answers the question we’ve had for months (nay, years!) That is: So what does it look like behind the old Brainard Mill, there, which the trail cuts behind? 

Well, now we know! Press play on the video above to get your own sneak peek!

Press release from the Redwood Community Action Agency:

The eagerly awaited Grand Opening Celebration for the County of Humboldt’s Humboldt Bay Trail South segment, connecting the cities of Eureka and Arcata, will be held on Saturday, June 28.

This segment of the Humboldt Bay Trail, which is also part of the Great Redwood Trail, will be celebrated through a full day of activities, concluding with a trail party at the Adorni Center, located at 1011 Waterfront Dr. in Eureka, from 3 to 6 p.m.

Adorni Center Celebration Details

The celebration will include music, food trucks, bike valet, rentals and tune-ups and information tables hosted by trail supporting organizations. A brief program will recognize the decades of work that made the trail possible, with remarks by Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire, Great Redwood Trail Agency’s executive Director Elaine Hogan and Humboldt County’s Deputy Public Works Director of Environmental Services Hank Seemann. Following the recognition program, attendees will have the opportunity dance to the musical stylings of Pandemonium Jones. Refreshments will be available.

Pre-Celebration Community Events

Trail activities prior to the Adorni Center event include two morning trail clean ups, a one-way skate date for roller skaters, skateboarders and scooter riders from Arcata to Eureka, a bike ride to the celebration and a “map your own” run activity and be entered to win raffle prizes. For people who want to ride the bus or who only want to ride/walk/roll/run one way, the Humboldt Transit Authority will provide a shuttle every 30 minutes between Arcata and Eureka, and the Humboldt Trails Council will provide a bike-hauling vehicle shuttle.

To learn more about the Adorni Center event, shuttle schedules and trail activities, please visit tinyurl.com/trailparty. For more information, please contact Carol Vander Meer at cvandermeer@rcaa.org or Colin Fiske at colin@transportationpriorities.org.

About the Humboldt Bay Trail South

Completion of the Humboldt Bay Trail between Eureka and Arcata along the Humboldt Bay shoreline has been a regional priority for nearly 25 years. The Humboldt Bay Trail South project includes the “final four” miles of trail between the Bracut Industrial Park and the Eureka Waterfront Trail. The completed trail will provide an alternative to vehicular travel between Eureka and Arcata with tremendous views and up-close experiences of Humboldt Bay. Most of the new trail segment is situated between the railroad and Highway 101, with a one-mile portion situated on top of the levee around the Brainard Mill site. In addition to serving the region’s transportation needs and enhancing coastal access, the Humboldt Bay Trail will achieve a critical link in the California Coastal Trail and advance the Great Redwood Trail.

The Humboldt County Department of Public Works began construction of the Humboldt Bay Trail South Project in June 2023. The project’s prime contractor was Arcata-based McCullough Construction. Construction management services were provided by Ghirardelli Associates, with engineering support from GHD, Inc. Funding for construction has been provided by the California Transportation Commission’s Active Transportation Program, California State Coastal Conservancy and Caltrans District 1.

The overall Humboldt Bay Trail is being developed as a collaborative effort between the County of Humboldt, Humboldt County Association of Governments, City of Arcata, City of Eureka, California Department of Transportation, California State Coastal Conservancy, Great Redwood Trail Agency, Humboldt Trails Council, Redwood Community Action Agency, Timber Heritage Association and other partners. Additional information is available at humboldtbaytrail.info.

Organizers and supporters of the Humboldt Bay Trail Grand Opening Celebration planning include the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities (CRTP), Great Redwood Trail Agency, Redwood Community Action Agency (RCAA), Humboldt Trails Council, Ink People Center for the Arts, Humboldt County Association of Governments (HCAOG), County of Humboldt, City of Eureka, City of Arcata, Bike Month Humboldt Coalition, Friends of the Eel River, Humboldt Waterkeeper, Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), Humboldt Bay Bicycle Commuters Association, Redwood Coast Energy Authority and Mir de Silva.



(AUDIO) What’s Happening in Humboldt For Juneteenth? Folks From Black Humboldt Stopped by KSLG to Tell Us

Sabina Gallier / Wednesday, June 18 @ 7:05 a.m. / On the Air

Lexxi and Ra from Black Humboldt in the KSLG studio | Photo: Sabina

(AUDIO) Black Humboldt talks Juneteenth on KSLG

On Thursday, June 19, Black Humboldt will again host its annual Juneteenth celebration, as part of the national holiday that commemorates the announcement of the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of enslaved African Americans throughout the former Confederate States of America.

In advance of the festivities, Black Humboldt’s Network Alchemist Lexxi and its Art & Culture Innovator Ra stopped by KSLG’s Old Town Studio to chat with DJ Sabina about the coming three days of joy, connection, community, as well as the importance of continuing to celebrate the achievements of the past in the present. With the impacts of slavery and the African Diaspora still affecting Black people today, the Juneteenth celebration serves as a reminder of the ongoing fight for equality.

The Juneteenth Multiday Cultural Festival runs Thursday, June 19 through Saturday, June 21, ending with a festival at Halvorsen Park on Saturday from 12-9 p.m.

More event info can be found on Black Humboldt’s social media pages and on the flyers below.

LINKS

Ra, Lexxi and Sabina in KSLG’s Old Town studio




Lawsuit Says Federal Government Discriminates by Funding Hispanic-Serving Colleges

Denise Amos / Wednesday, June 18 @ 6:57 a.m. / Sacramento

The CSU San Bernardino campus on April 22, 2024. Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters

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This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

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A lawsuit recently filed in Tennessee could affect colleges that serve large numbers of Latino students in the Inland Empire and throughout California, including Cal Poly Humboldt.

Students for Fair Admissions, the national group whose lawsuit resulted in the US Supreme Court striking down affirmative action in college admissions, has joined a lawsuit recently filed by Tennessee’s attorney general against the U.S Department of Education.

The lawsuit says the education department’s special funding for programs targeting “Hispanic-Serving Institutions” is discriminatory and unconstitutional.

Hispanic-Serving Institutions are colleges and universities where 25% or more undergraduates are Latino and a large share of the students are low income. The program is designed to help colleges and universities attract and support Latinos and other disadvantaged students.

National studies show Latinos are more likely than non-Hispanic white people to be first-generation college students and to face financial, linguistic, and cultural barriers to higher education.

The Hispanic serving program has grown exponentially since federal laws created it in 1992. The education department in 2023 spent $418.8 million on grants and assistance to colleges that qualified. They used the money for labs, libraries, tutors, student service programs, scholarships, fellowships, remote learning and other things. Special grants also support Latino students majoring in science, technology, engineering and math fields.

California has the most Hispanic-serving colleges — 171 of the 615 in the United States — including most Cal State and University of California campuses. About nine in 10 Latino students in California attend Hispanic-serving institutions.

Most of the Inland Empire’s colleges and community colleges are Hispanic-serving, including Cal State San Bernardino, which reported 72% of its undergraduates are Latino, and Riverside Community College, where 68% of its students are Latino.

Taken together, Riverside’s three community college campuses are the largest Hispanic-serving institution, with more than 59,000 students, said Wolde-Ab Isaac, chancellor of the community college district. The federal government sends it $3 million to $4 million a year through the Hispanic-serving program, but that’s only about 1% of its more than $300 million budget.

Without it, the district would find a way to still provide the same services, he said, because that is part of the college’s mission.

“We are serving the underserved. Our populations are educationally and economically underserved,” Isaac said. “This is a system failure … We have a category of our people that have been deprived over many years of neglect, creating generational gaps, both in terms of economic inequalities, social inequalities, health disparities.”

Targeting funding to colleges that provide them with extra support and services is fair, he said.

The Inland Empire is one of the few regions in California where high school enrollments and graduating classes are increasing, he added, but the region also has some of the lowest college-going and college graduation rates in the state.

“We have the most dynamic, the most diverse, the most vibrant population of any (college) and we have a much bigger share of poverty in our areas,” he said. “We have so many young kids compared to any place else and yet those opportunities are not there to help them unlock those talents.”

Hispanic-serving institutions operate in 30 states. Tennessee is suing because none of its colleges has that designation. The lawsuit notes that Tennessee’s colleges have enrolled Latino students, but they fall beneath the 25% threshold.

“To be sure, all Tennessee colleges and universities serve Hispanic students,” the suit states. “They also serve needy, low-income students of all ethnicities. But under the statute, they get no HSI money because they lack enough members of one particular ethnic group. So all students at these schools suffer.”



OBITUARY: Jim (James) Goodsir, 1942-2025

LoCO Staff / Wednesday, June 18 @ 6:56 a.m. / Obits

It’s impossible to describe a life of over 80 plus years in just a few paragraphs but I would like to tell you a bit about my partner, Jim Goodsir. Born an intrepid storyteller, Jim’s idea of a great conversation was one that dipped into past adventures and characters he met on his travels.

Born in the Midwest in the early 1940s, Jim was a middle child tucked between an older brother and younger sister. He grew up with parents who allowed him to be a wild kid in a small town, running free through tame woodlands in dairy country. Jim’s childhood stories describe him as the constant creator of minor mayhem. With a slight smile of satisfaction, Jim would launch into another tale perhaps entitled, “The time I fell into the septic tank and thought no one would notice,” or “The time we painted the dog green,” or “The time I rode the motorcycle through the high school hallways while class was in session.” Over time, these stories were shown to be true.

Many of these misadventures resulted in a warmed behind, but on occasion, he would be thrown into a situation that served him. As he told it, one of his neighbors, a retired teacher named Gladys Stare, had the first television in town. Jim and his buddies decided they would influence Gladys, without her knowing, to let them watch her TV. However, Gladys was a firm negotiator and traded them one hour of TV for one hour of reading from her personal library. Jim took her up on the deal and without planning it, fell in love with books and learning.

Jim spoke fondly of working summers as a teenager, staking tobacco, detasseling corn, and trimming Christmas trees, with long hours in the hot sun. He learned how incredibly refreshing the taste of ice water could be.

Jim spent his late teens and early 20s in the Marine Corps. He learned that you never volunteer for anything. We heard hair-raising tales, from the typhoon that ripped transport trucks off the deck of a troop ship he had the misfortune of being assigned, to marrying a woman with two kids, only to discover that she actually had six, and he had to support them on a private’s salary! These stories both ended well. He was below decks when the typhoon blew over and the marriage was short lived.

Subsequent years found Jim trying various trades to make his way. The mid-1970s found him in a blue panel van named Gertrude – one more hippie headed for Humboldt County. Jim found a job at Lazio’s Seafood and this small twist of fate changed his life. Describing himself as having long hair with a chest length beard and looking for all the world like Charles Manson, he started work there shoveling fish guts. He ended up as a clean-cut manager overseeing freezing fish. The feeling of welcome that he felt during his time at Lazio’s was a memory he returned to over and over.

Success followed through the years as he was hired to be General Manager at SeaPro, a large seafood processing company in Seattle, and later, to run summer halibut fisheries with Native corporations on St. George Island in Alaska’s Bering Sea. Jim celebrated all his work years in fisheries as a tribute to the generous support he received from Laurie Lazio and Lazio’s Seafood.

Jim loved to travel and would have loved to travel more. In the early 1980s, he traced his family roots to the Orkney Islands, meeting more Goodsirs than you could shake a stick at. A year or so later, armed with motorcycles, he and his partner at the time, Bonnie, toured Europe for 6 months. Jim savored the sights and sounds of those trips for the rest of his life.

In the mid 1980s, Jim returned to Humboldt County, falling into another joy — Humboldt State University. Majoring in Philosophy and Religious Studies, Jim found kindred souls in his quest for truth and the understanding of himself. Religious Studies professor Duncan Bazemore and his wise wife Loré, as well as religious studies students, provided a mirror to Jim’s world. If asked what religion he followed, Jim would answer that Hinduism came the closest to reflecting his beliefs.

Jim had an artist’s heart. His eye for photography and room design was superb. He passionately built adult-sized rocking animals – lions, giraffes, dinosaurs and dragons. Untrained in drafting designs, he labored slowly with one shape after another until the finished animals matched his internal picture and rocked to perfection. Unfortunately, the business was short-lived because no one in the household possessed the marketing skills to sell the lovely creatures.

My son Ben and I were privileged to be the recipients of Jim’s stories and part of Jim’s life from the late 1980s. He shared his love of agate collecting with us. Days at the beach would end with all of us damp, sandy and full of the best homemade fudge. We had pockets full of shiny agates and stories about how this rock was sitting right there with everybody walking right by it! With lines of agates set across the kitchen table from biggest to smallest and the very best set to the side. Our home was decorated with gallons of agates, vases of agates, baskets of agates.

I was cleaning out a drawer of odds and ends when I ran across a clip Jim used for keys. He had strengthened a part that slid over his belt. I remember his supreme satisfaction over this improvement. You would find nothing ambiguous about Jim. He knew what he liked and was always about the details. He never left the house without his hat, scarf, jacket, cane, gloves and leather bag containing a lucky rock/phone/keys/comb/money clip/wallet. Hours could be spent looking for any missing items before we were free to move about the county.

Coffee was a ritual of extreme importance to Jim. For many years, Jim had favorite coffee shops. At the last, he settled on Cafe Mokka at Finnish Country Sauna and Tubs. The atmosphere reminded him of his travels in Europe. Most days, you could find him at a corner table, comfortably arguing politics with owner Stan and Z, another intrepid Mokka fan. A newspaper, cup of coffee with extra foam and a thumbprint cookie completed the picture.

As Jim’s health worsened, friends stepped in to provide support. Jim began to fall without warning. His very good friend and neighbor, Robert, showed up at any hour to lift Jim back to his feet. Robert built a bench to fit over one of our bathtubs so that there would be no more broken ribs from falls. Our house was rearranged to provide soft landings.

In Jim’s final days, he stood for hours sorting agates and displaying them on shelves. Sometimes dementia will cause a person to be angry and lash out. Instead, Jim wrote mostly unfinished letters to friends and family, telling them how much they meant to him. Every conversation and note ended with the words, “I love you.” Every day, he pondered the blessings of his life. He was very clear that the visits of our friend Loré and his Hospice support staff helped to keep him alive and supported.

Jim died at the end of March 2025. He is survived by his wife Susan and stepson Ben, Brother Fred and Sister Gail as well as extended family. Jim’s parents lived in his memories as did his nephews, Joel and Hunter.

Please, consider celebrating Jim’s life in the way he thought to be most perfect: Tell the story of one of your most outrageous childhood adventures to a friend while you enjoy a cookie and cup of coffee at Cafe Mokka. Go to the beach and see if you can find an agate. Ponder your blessings.

The family thanks Hospice for its support of Jim at the end of his life. We also thank Lost Coast Outpost for allowing us to share Jim’s life with the community. These special gifts are greatly appreciated.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Jim Goodsir’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.