Ed Hogan, a
father and grandfather, a native Kings Parker with a
passion for serving his community. He was president of
the Kings Park School Board, a member of the American
Legion Post 944 of Kings Park, a member of the Smithtown
Board of Zoning Appeals and a long-serving senior
legislative aide for the Suffolk County Legislature,
working most recently with Lynne Nowick (R-St. James).
Ed Hogan was
loved by all and is missed dearly.
Ed Hogan Obituary
Lifelong Kings Park resident Ed Hogan died Friday, March 31 of a massive
heart attack at Stony Brook University Hospital. He had just turned 61.
Hogan, a father and grandfather, was a native Kings Parker with a passion
for serving his community, recently helping establish the Kings Park
Coalition for Economic Development. He was also president of the Kings Park
School Board, a member of the American Legion Post 944 of Kings Park, a
member of the Smithtown Board of Zoning Appeals and a long-serving senior
legislative aide for the Suffolk County Legislature, working most recently
with Lynne Nowick (R-St. James).
"He's had so many different awards and plaques," said Hogan's sister-in-law
Laura Tartamella. "He's always been a loyal Kings Parker and the town means
a lot to him. If they were running some kind of function Eddie was there."
"We go back a long way," said childhood friend Charles Gardner, who preceded
Hogan as President of the Kings Park School Board and served with him on the
economic coalition. "I grew up with him. He was a year ahead of me in
school. We have known each other forever." Gardner, who is president of the
Kings Park Chamber of Commerce, said Hogan always put his community first.
"His main interest in all his different jobs and all the different jobs he
held was always with Kings Park in mind," he said.
"I've known him 46 years from when he was a sophomore my second day of
school here," said Kings Park Heritage Museum director Leo Ostebo. "We've
developed a kind of friendship. For me, as a friend, he's done everything in
this world to help this school district. He didn't want to be a politician.
He just wanted to do something for his school district. He just stressed
himself out."
Some said Hogan had recent health problems.
"He was a tireless worker," said fellow Republican committeeman and American
Legion member Kevin O'Hare. "Maybe that took its toll."
All agreed that Hogan had been spreading himself thin recently, pouring
himself into his community work, particularly working for a solution to the
Kings Park Psychiatric Center problem.
"He fought so hard for that hospital and he saw his efforts realized on
Thursday with Senator John Flanagan and he knew about it," O'Hare said. "He
had worked very hard for that. I'm glad he knew his efforts came forward …
[but] he never saw retirement, which I feel really bad about. People work so
hard and they never see the rewards at the end."
"I'm just overly saddened by this," Ostebo said of the news of Hogan's
death. "We were going to have a meeting on Wednesday. We were planning for
the future."
Hogan's sudden, untimely death was a shock to others in the community.
"They … just called me up and said get over to Stony Brook Hospital right
now. Ed had a heart attack. I actually got there before my sister did but he
was already gone," Tartamella said.
Hogan had served in the military stationed in Korea until just before the
start of Vietnam War. Born on March 24, 1945, he was one of three siblings.
As he became a staple in the Kings Park community, Hogan raised a family of
his own and sent all three of his children to Kings Park schools. One of his
daughters is now a teacher in the district.
"I feel very bad about it both professionally and personally," Kings Park
School Superintendent Mary DeRose said of Hogan's death. DeRose had served
under Hogan since he became school board president in 1994. "When you work
with people this long, they're not just friends, they're like family." She
said Hogan was a hard worker, but didn't care for the credit. "He did a lot
behind the scenes," she said. "He worked very hard, yet you'd never see his
name in the paper. Kings Park couldn't have a stronger native son and
advocate."
The Kings Park school district plans to name the high school's auditorium
and new lobby Hogan Hall in honor of the man who put so much of himself into
his school district and his community for most of his life.
Tartamella said that, most importantly, Hogan was a family man, adding that
he had been very fatherly toward her three children and vice versa. "He was
their other father. That's just the kind of person he was," she said.
Hogan is survived by his wife, Virginia (Ginny); children Kerri Anne Dunne,
Megan Hansen and Ryan Hogan; grandchildren Shannon and Cloe Dunne; brother,
Michael and sister, Eileen Cornelison. A wake was held at Clayton Funeral
Home in Kings Park on Monday and Tuesday. A funeral Mass was held at St.
Joseph's Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday, with interment following at
Calverton National Cemetery.
The family is asking that donations be made to: The Edward P. Hogan
Scholarship Fund, c/o Treasurer, Kings Park Central School District, 101
Church Street, Kings Park, NY 11754.
The Kings Park community, Tartamella said, has suffered a great loss. "He
lived and died for that town. He was working when he died. He died for that
town."
