Millville athletics icon Bob Hogan dies at 76

MATT SILVA, @mattysilv

Bob Hogan will forever be remembered as being a man of Millville and someone who put forth all he could to make it better.

“His life revolved around the church and athletics in any capacity. He just gave his all to both,” said Bryce Hogan, Bob’s son. “He would kind of wheel and deal with my mom (Sandy Hogan) to get her to go somewhere. He would drop her off at a mall or something and go to a nearby school and watch whatever the teams were.

“Just his dedication and preparation, I think that was a good summary word for him. He was prepared. He was prepared for the games, prepared for the classroom and he was prepared to die. He was a strong Christian man and he was prepared in every way.”

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Hogan, a 1958 graduate of Millville High School who coached football and wrestling, died Sunday. He was 76.

Hogan suffered a hemorrhagic stroke in June 2015 and, Bryce said, was hospitalized again in October with acute kidney failure. Hogan died from complications of his ailments after spending nearly seven weeks in hospice care.

“His whole life, he was a man of short stature, but always did more than what was expected,” Bryce said. “He was seven weeks in hospice without any food whatsoever except for maybe a spoonful of Jell-o or apple sauce to help get down some medicine. For a while it was just some water.

“He hung on and hung on. Just like he was a wrestler, he wrestled with this. He wrestled with the ailments and the debilitating effects of the stroke for a year and a half.”

Hogan was a standout wrestler during his four years at Millville (1955-1958). He was a two-time state champion in his final two years, with a perfect record in both seasons. He also wrestled at Rutgers University for three years, earning a bronze medal in the Easterns tournament.

He would go on to coach wrestling at Millville for seven years and also served as an assistant football coach. As defensive coordinator under head coach Tony Surace, Hogan helped the Thunderbolts defeat Brick Township in 1975 for the school’s first sectional title.

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“You know how people always say people bleed school colors? Bob was definitely a Millville Thunderbolt,” Millville athletic director Dave LaGamba said. “He was a longtime, outstanding teacher here and coach. The guy really cared about this place.”

“He was the ultimate competitor,” Surace said. “You think about him being a two-time state champion – the first one in New Jersey. He was a 120-pound fullback, who started on the football team. I know back in the day size was different from today, but even then there weren’t 120-pound fullbacks.

“He wanted to win. He was going to spend whatever time that was necessary to have our teams prepared to play and I know he had the respect of all the coaches that he competed against. They respected our defense … He’s in a better place, but it’s still hard. The friendship we had, it went pretty deep.”

Hogan is survived by his wife Sandy and three sons, Robby (and wife Rene), Kevin and Bryce (and wife Stephanie); his sister Helen Finger; his four granddaughters Devin, Lily, Meadow and Clodagh; his great-granddaughter Scarlett, and many nieces and nephews.

Services will be held at First United Methodist Church on 201 N. 2nd St. in Millville on Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m., and Friday from 11 a.m. to noon. The funeral service will be held at noon.

Matt Silva; (856) 563-5322msilva@gannettnj.com