Mary RoaAnn Hogge

Happy Thanksgiving

This is a summary of an interview Mindy did of her Grandpa Hogge, in November 2004, concerning his mother, Great-grandma Roa Hogge (bracketed info added):

Mother always took us to church. Dad didn’t go, but mother did. She always made sure that we went to church. Dad supported mother and us, but he didn’t go to church. Mother used to write me in Oklahoma [when he was in Office Candidate School]. They started a Sunday school in Clarksburg and when she wrote me she would quote scriptures in my letters for me to meditate on. My favorite scripture till this day is Matt. 5:16. She confided in me being the oldest. She showed great commitment in Primary. She loved children. Mother had instilled that kind of commitment in her boys (us). I cannot remember ever wanting to not go to church. Dad never raised his voice to Mother. Dad’s respect for mother helped me with my testimony. Dad encouraged us to respect mother. Mother was always very positive about things; she was the positive one in the family. She was the example for all of us. She was the center of the family; everyone looked to her for counsel and advice. She was always there. She was the one who told us that she loved us and that my dad loved us. She loved to have fun and she loved to laugh. We’d make her wet her pants from laughing so hard. She gained a testimony of the gospel during her growing up years in Utah. [She was baptized when she was 14 years old, after her father passed away.] Church was the center of the community activity. It went deeper than just being a member. She understood it a lot better than we understood it at the time. I Know that My Redeemer Lives was sung at her funeral and it was very fitting for Mother. She always had a desire to go to the temple, but back then you couldn’t go to the temple unless your husband went. She was a remarkable lady. I shudder to think what would have happened if I didn’t have someone in my life to encourage me to do those things. She instilled in us desire and devotion to the gospel. Generations have been blessed by Mother with strength in the gospel. It must have come from mother because it didn’t come from dad.

Her name is Roa: August 11, 1913, born in Oasis, Utah. Her father was a drunk but loved his family very much. He died September 15, 1922 of a heart attack. Her mother died of cancer when Roa was 16, so her and her siblings all took care of each other. She met her husband in Burley, Idaho. Her husband was active in the church until they left home and he began smoking and drinking, but he always supported Roa. They had three boys, Wallace, Richard, and Ralph. She always went to church by herself and insisted that her boys go to church with her. She was the most loving mother. People said when she’d look at her boys she would get a twinkle in her eye. She was never afraid of work, and family was the most important thing in her life. She was a Primary president for 13 years. She loved children. In 1951, she came down with cancer. She died October 7, 1955. She never went to the temple while she was here on earth but that work has been done for her. Her sons were 20, 18, and 10 when she died. All three boys have been bishops; one has been a stake president for nine years; another has been working in the Anchorage, Alaska temple since it opened; and the other died a few years ago while he was bishop. All three have been strong leaders in the church and have raised families with a strong foundation in the church. All three received their testimonies from their mother. The love and values that were taught in the home lived on through generations. She was never happier than when she was with her boys. She was their best friend. Her family was the number one obligation in her life.

Her full name is Mary Roanne Hogge, my great-grandma.