Jim Drain was as gracious as he was laconic, a charming man with a can-do spirit, a bemused grin and a twinkle in his eye.   He was an avid skiier and cyclist, and he thoroughly enjoyed living in Carpinteria, his home for nearly 25 years.

      He also was my friend, and my heart sank when Noozhawk got confirmation that his body had been found in the wreckage of his minivan just after midday Sept. 29.

      The vehicle was located by a Santa Barbara County search helicopter, about 50 feet down a cliff on a sharp curve along windy Highway 150 east of Carpinteria.

      I was crushed when we later learned it appeared to be a gunshot wound that had killed him.

      Drain, 77, had struggled with mobility issues for the last several years so he was considered to be an at-risk missing person when his family reported his disappearance the night before.

      Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Kelly Hoover said investigators pinged his cell phone, which provided the general vicinity of where he was.

      “It appears that he has a gunshot wound and at this point it’s under investigation by the Sheriff’s Department ...,” she told Noozhawk.   “It does not appear that any foul play was involved.”

      In addition to his physical limitations, Drain never seemed to be quite the same after his wife, Jane, died in 2013.   They were college sweethearts at Montana State University in Bozeman, and had been married 54 years at the time of her death.

      The couple had three children — Matt, Tim and Elizabeth — and seven grandchildren.

      Drain was quite active in Carpinteria.   He and son Matt owned 4J Drain Construction, and he was a past chairman of the Carpinteria Valley Chamber of Commerce and a former board member of the Carpinteria Valley Water District.

      He also was a faithful parishioner at All Saints By-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Montecito, where he sang in the choir until the stairs made it too difficult to navigate.

      It was at All Saints that we chatted almost every week.   Church won’t be the same this Sunday, and I so wish I had one do-over.

      Funeral services are pending.   May God grant his family solace and peace.