James Finley Lamont

James Finley Lamont, 94, passed away peacefully on December 23, 2017, surrounded by his family. He was an authentic Wyoming Cowboy, tough as hell right up to his final breath. Jimmy Lamont, a Wyoming native, was born in Rawlins, the eldest son of pioneering Scottish born sheep rancher James (Jimmie) Lamont and his Danish born wife Jensina Petersen. “Little Jimmy” grew up on the family ranch, the T Lazy T, which his parents homesteaded in 1914, near Independence Rock on the Oregon Trail in Carbon County. In 1938, the family moved to Riverton where he graduated from high school. With the outbreak of WWII, Jimmy found work in a defense plant near Bremerton, Washington, where he met his wife of nearly 60 years, Mary Juanita (Nita) Jones, who passed in 2012. Jimmy enlisted in the Army, joining the ranks of the many unsung heroes of his generation. He was a member of the elite 517 th Parachute Regimental Special Secret Forces Combat Team, earning a Purple Heart and two clusters from fighting in the Italian Maritime Alps, jumping in Southern France and fighting in Belgium Battle of The Bulge. At war’s end, Jimmy returned home to his wife and new born, first of three sons. He was employed, first, as a gas station attendant in Riverton and then as a traveling salesman for the Wyoming Automotive Company. As the Wyoming Automotive Company expanded, Jimmy, now Jim, rose from traveling salesman to store manager and then to general manager of the newly created Industrial Distributors. While in Riverton, Jim was a founding and charter member of the Wyoming Mining Association formed in 1956. He, also, served as the President of the Riverton Chamber of Commerce. For a time, he was the drill captain of the Riverton Volunteer Fire Department. As an avid hunter, fisherman and wildlife conservationist, Jim was considered one of the leading outdoorsman in Wyoming. Jim moved his family to Casper in 1958 to begin his job as general manager of Industrial Distributors. In 1966, Jim and his fellow manager, Paul Manly, purchased Industrial Distributors. In 1980, Jim and Paul sold Industrial Distributors to a Conoco subsidiary, Fairmont Supply Company. Jim retired from Fairmont in 1983. After retiring, Jim and Juanita traveled extensively, spending the winters in Arizona among their Wyoming friends. They purchased property atop Casper Mountain, near Crimson Dawn. The property views gaze out to Muddy Mountain and in the far distance the ranch of Jim’s childhood. Here the T Lazy T sprang back into being, this time without the harsh privations of the Great Depression. It became a place where they gathered with family and friends enjoying the fruits of a lifetime of hard work. Jim and Juanita are survived by their sons: Jim Jr., Greg, Tracy, and grandson Joe, his wife, Sarah and children Logan, Henry and Maeve. A celebration of Jim and Juanita’s lives will be held August 25, 2018 11:00 AM at the Sunburst Lodge on Casper Mountain. Reception and open house will follow at the Lamont T Lazy T compound 9843 Crimson Dawn Road on Casper Mountain. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the Disabled American Veterans.