James Gordon Felt

James (Jim, Jimmy, Jimbo, Woodrow, the Real Cowboy) Gordon Felt, 82 years old, was born February 17, 1944, in Chicago, Illinois. He passed away Sunday, May 10, 2026, at McKay Dee Hospital from complications of a heart attack while mountain biking earlier in the week. He was doing what he loved. He was itching to break in his new tires on a new trail, and true to Jim’s style - he finished the ride.

Even at 82 he was riding three times a week, walking their poodle, Chloe three miles a day. He still served his children and grandchildren and supported them in their lives. He positively influenced and encouraged many around him throughout his entire life.

Jim entered the service when he was 18 and was in the Marine Reserves for 6 years. He trained for desert combat at Twentynine Palms near San Diego. Semper Fi, dad.

His dedication to healing and helping others made him a successful Physical Therapist. After graduating from Stanford University in 1968, he began his career at McKay Dee Hospital. Later starting a private practice with Steve Spencer called Felt-Spencer Physical Therapy. He specialized in Sports Medicine and especially loved working with athletes from high school teams to professionals. They were known for their weekend Bumps and Bruises clinics for high school athletes. He volunteered to work the Ogden area rodeos taping up the cowboys and treating their injuries. In addition, they innovated hippo-therapy helping patients improve neurological and physical function through horseback riding. Jim retired after 50 years of practice.

Jim was an avid outdoorsman, and loved the mountains, skiing, biking, fishing, hiking, hunting, camping, boating, and cattle drives. He loved guns, reloading, and tying flies. He was on the Snowbasin Ski Patrol in the 1970’s and also taught avalanche safety. At the 2002 Winter Olympics he was an official Physical Therapist, he was slope side on the Giant Slalom. He really enjoyed visiting with the athletes from all over the world.

He instilled the love for the outdoors to his children and grandchildren by teaching and sharing his knowledge. As a young family, he taught his kids to ski on water and snow. Family vacations to Grand Targhee, Fish Lake, and Flaming Gorge on the Hang Loose are a highlight of the family. Anything we did for fun was outside, we worked then we played, but sometimes we didn’t. Often waking up at 6 a.m. on a Saturday to waterski on glass and leaving before the crowds got there (the yard work was waiting for us afterwards). Waking up early was a common event: getting up before sunrise to beat the crowds or the heat. Wake up early to do yard work, hike, ski, boat, vacations, etc. When we would go snow skiing, we would wake up early enough to pack our lunch and get a good parking spot. We never stopped; we ate on the lift and went till closing time. Always getting our moneys worth of skiing!

When he became a grandpa, he continued to pass on his love of the outdoors. Grandpa Jimbo was always involved in their lives and made sure he spent one on one time with them and made it to their events. He would schedule days to teach them skiing, biking, fishing, and anything else they were interested in learning. The grandkids had individual birthday outings with grandma and grandpa and got to plan whatever they wanted to do. He was very supportive and loved his grandkids so much, he was happy for their success and their endeavors.

He was very involved in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Scouting and high adventure trips were one of the highlights of his life. He was a Scoutmaster and loved taking the boys camping and feeding them dutch oven dinners. He often volunteered to make dutch oven dinners for hundreds of people and would gather a team together to make it happen‒he knew how to feed a small army! He served as a member of bishoprics and later called as a Bishop. He held many callings in his life that brought him great joy.

Jimmy is survived by his wife, Vernae; their children, Justin (Kari), Holly (Nate) Wayment, Travis (Jay) and Carlee (Jared) Montgomery. Grandpa Jimbo (Pop-Pops to Leo) loved spending time with his 11 grandchildren, Jackson, Gavin, Ethan, Edie, Ella, Sawyer, Kambree, Peyton, Leo, Macall, Beckett. Jim is also survived by his siblings, Kassie (Clark) Christensen, MacLane (Ava) Felt and Valerie Robinson.

The Real Cowboy’s celebration of life will be held on Friday, May 15, 2026, at 2 p.m. at Lindquist’s Ogden Mortuary, 3408 Washington Blvd. Friends may visit with family on Friday from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. at the mortuary. Interment, Evergreen Memorial Park, Ogden.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Ogden Rescue Mission