James Pomroy

September 9, 1946 - October 23, 2024

On the evening of September 23, 2024, James Joseph Pomroy (Jim) age 78 passed away unexpectedly.

Jim was born September 6, 1946, to Jack and Dorothy Pomroy in Butte, Montana. Jim was the youngest of five children. Jim graduated from Butte high school in 1964 and earned his bachelor's degree from Western Montana College in Dillon, Montana. In 1973, he received a master's degree in social work from Tulane University in New Orleans.

To finance his educational pursuits, Jim learned to play the guitar and along with his lifelong friend, Bob Bock, continued to play and sing together at every opportunity including the most recent fundraiser for Wild About Cats Rescue and Sanctuary.

Jim's professional career started as a social worker in Dillon, Montana. From there, he moved to the State of Montana's Department of Corrections in Helena. Jim held various positions within the Department during his many years of service to the state. He retired from the department in the position of Division Administrator of Corrections in 1993.

Jim was an avid runner completing his first Governor's Cup Marathon in 1977. After that race, he decided to quit smoking and become a serious runner. He began running numerous marathons including qualifying and running the Boston Marathon in 1982. Since the marathons became so "easy", he moved up to ultra marathons. For his first attempt at ultras, he chose to run LeGrizz, a 50 miler in Hungry Horse, Montana. Then, of course, he reasoned if he could run 50 miles, why not a 100 miler and so, in 1986 Jim ran and completed the prestigious Western States 100 miler in California. He went on to run and complete the Leadville Trail 100, Leadville, CO; Wasatch 100, Layton, UT; and Old Dominion 100, Front Royal, VA.

Since running in other states was so much fun, Jim decided to bring all his running friends to Montana's beautiful Elkhorn Mountains. He established the Elkhorn Endurance 100k trail race which was ranked by the U.S. Ultra Running Magazine as the toughest 100k trail race in the United States. The first race was held in 1989 and is now Montana's oldest trail ultra. The race is still held annually on the first Saturday in August.

In 2001, when his running legs began to give out, he switched to horses and started competing in 25- and 50-mile endurance rides on his favorite horses "Hot Shot" and "Bo".

Jim married Pat Mulligan in 1966 and together they had three children, Jody, Kelly and Warren.

In 1993, Jim and Bobbie were married and Bobbie brought three children to the marriage, Tracey, Robert, and Nikki.

Jim was proceeded in death by his parents, Jack and Dorothy Pomroy, his stepson, Robert Eide, his brother Jack Pomroy and his sister Dorothy Sullivan.

Jim is survived by his wife, Bobbie, his three children, Jody (Brian) Wooden, Kelly (Matt) Johnson, and Warren Pomroy. Stepchildren, Tracey (Ben) Tintinger and Nikki (Rich) Foley. He is also survived by his brother Tom Pomroy and sister Pat Dixon and eight grandchildren, Jake and Logan Lester; Jon, Sam, Jaylen and Trey Tintinger; Millie and Hattie Foley.

Services to honor Jim's life will be held Monday, October 14, 2024, at 1 p.m. at Anderson Stevenson Wilke & Retz Funeral Home located at 3750 N. Montana Avenue.

Memorials in Jim's name are preferred to Wild About Cats Rescue and Sanctuary, P.O. Box 7688, Helena, MT 59624.

Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home

3750 N Montana Ave.

Helena, MT 59602

406-442-8520

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Published by Helena Independent Record on Oct. 10, 2024.