James Hodgdon passed away at his home in Rio Rancho on February 25, 2026. He was born into a loving family on December 21, 1970, in Billings, Montana. As a child growing up in Montana, his family made sure that he had the ability to play every sport he wanted, and he played them all, and he was great!

It was a big change for him to move all the way down to Los Alamos, New Mexico when he was 15, but it turned into a great opportunity. In New Mexico is where he made his lifelong friends and grew into the man we all came to know and love for the rest of his life. He excelled in and loved football, baseball, and many other recreational sports. When he wasn’t at school, his time was filled with friends, sports, hunting, fishing, cars, motorcycles, and working at Allied Foods. After graduating high school, he attended college before finding his lifelong career as a Maintenance Engineer.

His sports and mechanical gifts translated naturally into his career as a Senior Field Maintenance Equipment Engineer, and this became a job he kept for over 30 years, working at fabrication centers in Rio Rancho and Oregon. After he finished his sports career, his spare time was consumed with motorsports. He owned many cars, trucks, motorcycles, and classic Broncos that he rebuilt and repaired. His largest project was becoming the owner, chief mechanic, and driver of “Hodgdon Racing #21,” which he trailered around dirt tracks in New Mexico to race under the lights.

James was the best friend anyone could have. He was always laughing, smiling, and helping anyone he could. He never had an enemy, and he was loved by his family and friends. In addition to his family and friends, he loved animals. He always took in at least one dog that someone had abandoned in the desert.

He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Wilford and Mary Hodgdon, and his uncle, Randall Hodgdon. He is survived by his mother, Evalyn Hodgdon; aunt, Marion Yapuncich; and his little cousins who looked up to him as a big brother: Holden and Ian. He will also be missed by Uyen, Hannah, Luke, and Ellie Hodgdon, and the countless friends he made during his time on earth. May God bless and hold him until we get to see him again.