“We needed a big room,” said USA Luge Sponsorship and Marketing Director Gordy Sheer, one of Feld’s friends and an organizer of the memorial.

Feld died of complications from leukemia on Jan. 10 at age 68.

In addition to being USA Luge’s marketing manager, he served as the president of the Shipman Youth Center board for years, co-organized the annual I Love BBQ and Music Festival and spearheaded local relief efforts for Ukraine after Russia’s 2022 invasion.

A 1998 Olympic silver medalist, Sheer was coached by Feld and later became his coworker. He said the memorial program will clock in at around an hour.

“We’ve got 11 people giving brief remarks,” he said. “What we’ve tried to do is line up people that represent all of the facets of Dmitry’s life, from family to friends to the (Shipman) Youth Center to barbecue to fishing, his humanitarian efforts. You could really fill a lot longer than a one-hour celebration of life, but in the interest of everybody’s time, we had to try and put some constraints on it.”

The memorial will also provide opportunities for attendees to contribute to a GoFundMe campaign Sheer set up to benefit Feld’s widow, Linda, and his son, Dima. This can be seen at https://www.gofundme.com/f/linda-and-dima-feld.

No RSVP is required to attend the memorial, and in keeping with Dmitry’s signature style, Sheer said there is no dress code, either.

“Dmitry would insist that nobody dress up. (Wear) camouflage cargo shorts, hiking boots and, you know, some kind of sweatshirt,” Sheer said. “I specially ordered some camo shorts.”

After USA Luge and the Lake Placid community received news of Feld’s death on Jan. 10, plans went into effect almost instantly to honor him in a way befitting his legacy, Sheer said. USA Luge and Feld’s family and friends worked with leadership at the state Olympic Regional Development Authority to organize the memorial.

“The folks at ORDA have been tremendously helpful and instrumental in making it all happen,” Sheer said. “Ashley (Walden, ORDA president and CEO) and her team have been just wonderful to work with, and we’re grateful for their allowing us to make this happen.”

Sheer said Feld “gave and gave and gave” and has left behind big shoes to fill — both in the community and at the USA Luge offices.

“He just impacted so many people and so many different groups in the community and, of course, there’s his personality, too. … He made everybody feel special,” Sheer said. “Personally, professionally, it’s just a huge loss. I think I finally came to the realization that it’s time to start looking for someone to fill the marketing manager role.”

Born in Kamchatka, Russia, Feld grew up in Kyiv, Ukraine and moved to Lake Placid in 1984 after accepting a coaching position with USA Luge. It was in Lake Placid that he met his wife, Linda, a local whom he married in 1989. The two share a son, Dima. Feld became a U.S. citizen in Plattsburgh in 2001. He was known for his warm personality — he always signed off his emails with “big hug” — and contagious spirit of volunteerism.

“It wasn’t an act. He truly cared about anyone and everyone,” Sheer told the News in January. “The proof was that he remembered anything and everything about anyone he ever met. He really genuinely cared.”

Among his volunteer efforts, Feld was chief organizer, along with Sheer, of the annual I Love BBQ and Music Festival, the president of the Shipman Youth Center board and a board member of the Adirondack Arc, an organization whose mission is to provide opportunities to people with developmental disabilities.

He was named Volunteer of the Year by the Lake Placid News and Adirondack Daily Enterprise in 2010 and received the Liberty Bell Award, an award for being an outstanding citizen, from the Essex County Bar Association that same year. In 2017, he was honored by the Lake Placid-North Elba National Volunteer Week Committee as a Distinguished Adult Volunteer of the Year for his work with the Shipman Youth Center.

A proud Ukrainian, Feld became the local face of humanitarian efforts to aid Ukraine after Russia invaded in 2022, tirelessly organizing fundraisers and supply drives.

With the help of the village of Lake Placid, Feld displayed 20 Ukrainian flags on Main Street in March 2022. The same flags were hung back up on Main Street on Jan. 11, the morning after Feld’s death, at the request of the community. That night, the Olympic Center was lit in USA Luge colors to honor Feld’s legacy, the first of many communitywide tributes to Feld.

John Cogar, Feld’s longtime friend who traveled with him to Ukraine in 2022, told the News in January that Feld was an role model in his community.

“He was just the opposite of what’s going on in our world today,” he said. “He did not cause conflict. He brought people together. I think all of our goals should be to help him carry on the mission of peace and victory for Ukraine.”

This is the second time in the Olympic Center’s history that the 1980 rink’s ice is being turned into a church for a memorial service. The first time was on Feb. 8, 2019, for the funeral of former Olympic Center General Manager R. Dennis “Denny” Allen, who died unexpectedly a week earlier at the age of 64.

For those who can’t attend the celebration of life in person, USA Luge plans to livestream the service as a Facebook Live event at www.facebook.com/LugeUSA.