James (Jim) Lowell Lindquist
Born October 9, 1928, deceased July 17, 2024

Dad lived a long, happy life and was 95 years old when he passed, a milestone few of us ever achieve and certainly one he didn’t expect. He was born in Muskegon, Mich., an only child to Ernest and Jennie Lindquist. At the age of four, his family moved back to Hector, a small town in south central Minnesota, where his parents had been born and raised. Once back in Minnesota, his parents purchased a farm and resumed the longstanding family tradition of farming. No matter where life would take him over the years, Hector and the farm would always be home.

Upon graduation from high school, he enlisted in the Navy and completed boot camp, but the war was ending and troops were being withdrawn, so he decided he would enroll in college at the University of Minnesota to study forestry. It was here that he met the love of his life, Diane DeLaurier. She was a student pursuing her degree in English and education. Jim and Diane dated on and off throughout their last two years of college and he often said he could not believe how lucky he was to have found the most beautiful, intelligent and unfailingly kind girl he had ever met, and although she didn’t say so at first, she felt the exact same way about him! Jim and Diane were married shortly after graduation, while he was on leave from Air Force Candidate school and she was on winter break from teaching high school at a small high school in southern Minnesota and they soon started their family.

Dad was a veteran of the Korean War and served in Korea and was later stationed in Osaka, Japan, where he was joined by Mom and their first two children. They returned to the U.S. in 1956 with the impending birth of their third child very near. Jim then entered the masters program of forestry at the University of Minnesota. In 1958, shortly after the birth of their fourth child, the family of six moved to California after he accepted a job with the California Department of Forestry at Berkeley, as a research scientist specializing in silviculture. The family settled in the Bay Area, living in Walnut Creek and later Concord, where their fifth and final child was born in 1963. In 1968 he accepted a job with the U.S. Department of Forestry and the family moved to Riverside. In 1970 he was able to transfer to Humboldt County and the Redwood Science Lab on campus at HSU.

Jim’s career in forestry spanned 40+ years both as an employee of the CDF and USFS and later as an independent contractor working and conducting studies on his research plots in the Jackson State Demonstration Forest in Mendocino. He was proud of his career and research accomplishments and never lost that drive to learn: always reading, studying and willing to share that knowledge with others through lectures and scientific publications.

Dad was a firm believer in community and although you would never hear him brag about it, he was a regular blood donor and was on the Northern Humboldt Community Blood Bank honor roll with over 22 gallons of blood donated locally, plus countless gallons of blood donated earlier in his life. Dad was also well known around town among a vast and wonderful community of fellow coffee drinkers and his twice daily visits to the various coffee houses throughout the years were always the highlight of his day. We know he and his stories will be missed by all of his many friends both young and old, as his absence now leaves a large void.

Dad is survived by his five children: Frances (Jeff) Getty and their children Aron (Secorra) Getty and Amanda (Derek) Gurtler, Thomas (Julie) Lindquist and their children Jonathan (Mae) Bullock, Jenny (Pat) Simco and James (Lindsey) Lindquist, Jennifer (Thomas) Swift and their children Clayton (Jen) Swift and Tory (Jessica) Swift Jeffrey (Connie) Lindquist and his children Samantha Lindquist, Emilie (JW) Lindquist and Rachel Lindquist, and Thea (Brad) Tucker and their children Christopher Tucker and Cameron Tucker. Dad is also survived by 19 great-grandchildren and one great great grandchild.

Jim was preceded in death by his wife, Diane, and his parents Ernest and Jennie Lindquist. At Dad’s request, there will be a small graveside service for family at the Hector Cemetery at a later date where he and our mother’s ashes will be interred in the family plot. Here, they will be reunited with his parents and after a life well lived, Dad will finally be back home.

The family would like to thank the entire staff at Timber Ridge McKinleyville, especially Edwin, who took such dedicated and tender care of our father, and also the dedicated nurses and staff at Hospice of Humboldt. Memorial donations can be made to Hospice of Humboldt.

###

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