Obituaries : James Paul Lougee; Ex-Olympic Team Swimmer

Longtime Ojai resident and former Olympic team swimmer James Paul Lougee died at his home Saturday after a long struggle with cancer. He was 62.

Born in Milwaukee, Lougee attended the University of Wisconsin and was an All-American swimmer and an alternate on the Olympic swim team in the early 1950s, although he never got a chance to swim in the Olympics, said his son, Tim.

He moved to Ojai with his wife and four sons 25 years ago and started a John Deere Industrial Equipment dealership in Oxnard.

Always physically active and involved in community service, he volunteered with the Ventura County Search and Rescue Team, his son said.

“He definitely loved the outdoors,” Tim said. “He loved to snow-ski, to travel, to scuba-dive, and he did a lot of camping.”

The debilitating illness was particularly difficult for him because he was so used to activity, his son said.

“Toward the end there, he lost the ability to walk, which was tough, but he was able to stay home with us and he died gracefully,” Tim said.

Lougee also helped organize drug rehabilitation programs for teen-agers and volunteered with an Alzheimer’s organization.

News of his death spread through the Ojai community quickly and the family has been “flooded with calls, food and flowers,” Tim said.

Lougee is survived by his wife, Sue Lougee of Ojai; and his sons, Lance, 37, of Alameda; Steve, 35, of Santa Monica; Jeff, 33, of Agoura Hills, and Tim, 31, of Seattle.

Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Ojai. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Lougee Memorial for the Daughters of Charity Orphanage in Kampala, Uganda, in care of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.