Jim Posvar, at sixteen with no safety net and no blueprint, started out on his own with determination, grit, and a certainty that he could build something good. He did. What he built from nothing became a life that touched everyone around him and left a mark that will not fade.
He started in a grocery store in Huntsville, Alabama, and worked his way up. In 1969, at the age of nineteen, he was a store manager, and that same year, God brought his beloved Anita Suzanne into his life. They were married for 57 years.
Jim had a rare gift — he could walk into a failing business, see past the chaos, and know exactly how to make it flourish. Food World trusted him with their most difficult turnaround assignments, and without exception, he left every one of them better than he found it.
He later ventured into business for himself before answering the call to lead Piggly Wiggly locations in Guntersville and Arab, and ultimately was asked to lead alongside Walker Brothers in Baileyton as a buyer, where he retired.
On his desk sat a small plaque:
“All things are figurable.”
He meant it in life, and he meant it in business. Challenges didn’t slow Jim down; they just gave him something to solve.
Faith in Jesus was the foundation of Jim’s life. He and Anita were members of Liberty Church in Arab, Alabama, present from its very beginning in the late 1990s. He served on staff for years, stewarding the church’s finances with the same integrity that defined his career. He gave himself to prison ministry with a genuine heart, showing up for people because Jim always saw what a person could become, not just where they were.
And he prayed. Anyone who knew Jim knew this about him. He prayed over his family at every gathering, with authority, with tenderness, with a faith that was utterly real. He called people by name before the Lord. He never let you leave without telling you he was covering you in prayer. He meant it every single time.
“Pray without ceasing.”
1 Thessalonians 5:17 (KJV)
“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
James 5:16 (KJV)
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Luke 19:10 (ESV)
He is survived by the love of his life, his wife Anita Suzanne Posvar of 57 years; his three children, Wesley Posvar (Cortney), Melanie Smith (John), and Renée Habersetzer (Chip); his grandchildren, Blake, Dylan, Owen, and Lincoln Posvar, Jess and Cara Smith, Hunter and Alexandria Smith, Macey and Cody Howard, and Christian and Abby Martin, Danny Habersetzer and Kendall Christlieb, and Michael and Mackenzie Habersetzer; and his cherished great-grandchildren, Emry and Judd, Carson and Case, Ruth and JoVannah, Molly Anne; his sister Terri Kane (Mike); treasured nieces and nephews and extended family; and his beloved fur baby, Maggie. .
Preceded in death by his mother Shirley Blankenship (Gene), and his grandmother Mildred Jankowski (Ed); and his in-laws, Leonard and Una Forrester.
He was 76 years old. He is already missed in ways that words cannot fully reach. But the legacy he leaves behind, the faith he carried, the prayers he prayed, and the love he poured into every person in his life does not end. It carries forward, in all of them.
A Celebration of Life Service to honor and recognize Jim’s powerful influence will be at Liberty Church on Sunday, April 26, 2026. Visitation will begin at 2:00pm with the Memorial celebration service at 4:00p. Brother Keith Hodges will officiate. Arab Heritage Memorial Chapel are assisting with arrangements. In lieu of flowers please consider donating to Liberty Church.
