James Jay Ogden

James Jay (JJ) Ogden, age 70, passed away peacefully on August 29, 2012 in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

He was born July 24, 1942 in Salt Lake City, Utah to the late William Ogden and the late Virginia Packman Ogden. He attended East High School and joined the United States Marine Corps on November 6^th, 1961. Jim served two tours of duty in Vietnam where he honed his mechanical skills while retrieving downed helicopters, often under hostile fire. Jim was highly respected by his fellow Marines for staying cool, calm and collected during the dangerous retrieval missions, and was responsible for recovering over 200 downed helicopters during his two tours of Vietnam. He was awarded 19 air medals while in Vietnam for his mechanical expertise and steadfast devotion to duty.

After Vietnam Jim and his family moved to New River Air Station, Jacksonville, North Carolina, where Jim worked in a helicopter maintenance squadron. After Jim’s second tour in Vietnam, he was transferred to Quantico, Virginia. He was a proud member of HMX-1, the Presidential helicopter squadron.   Jim was a crew chief and a quality assurance inspector at HMX-1. He spent eight years working on the prototype of the CH-53E helicopter.  After having served 21 years in the US Marine Corps, Jim was honorably discharged on June 26, 1982, Jim retired with the rank of Master Sergeant (E-8).

Jim then began a career with Sikorsky Aircraft as a Black Hawk Technical Representative in July of 1982. Jim worked with the 3^rd of the 160th Special Forces Aviation Regiment at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia from September 1986 until September 1991. Jim spent 8 months with the Special Ops Unit in Kuwait during the Gulf War. After the Gulf War Jim was awarded the Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service from the Department of the Army, the second-highest award that a civilian can receive. Jim and his wife had the pleasure of living in Heidelberg, Germany from September 1991 to July of 2005, where Jim was the technical liaison for US Army units in Europe using Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters. In that role, he was responsible for the well-being of nearly 200 Black Hawks throughout Europe. During  his military and civilian career, Jim was deployed to every major military conflict that the US was involved with, including Vietnam, Desert Storm, Desert Shield, Bosnia and, the Iraq war.  In 2005 Jim left Sikorsky Aircraft and moved back to Salt Lake City to be near his family.

Jim enjoyed pick-up games of “gorilla” basketball, Formula One racing, gardening, driving on the Autobahns in Europe, vacations at the beach and spending time with his two grandchildren. During his Marine Corps career he was a leader and mentor to many of the young Marines that worked in his crew. He had a wickedly dry sense of humor, an extremely tough demeanor and a soft spot for children and animals.  Jim had tremendous pride in his country and made sure that the American flag flew outside his house every day. 

Jim is survived by his wife, Kathleen Baker; his daughter Wendy (Matt) Crawley; his son, Mark Ogden, adored grandchildren Emma and Mathew Crawley; sisters Sue (Larry) Dinkel , of Salt Lake City and Lynda (Jay) Weir, of Half Moon Bay , California;  and many cousins, nieces, nephews, and in-laws. In addition to his parents, Jim was preceded in death by two sisters Sandra Phelps and Judith Spurgeon. Graveside services will be held at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, 1342 East 500 South, on Tuesday, September 4^th at 11 am. An open house will follow immediately after. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you donate to the Toys for Tots/Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, or the charity of your choice.    

Semper Fi.