Willard Marion Vogt
Obituary
Willard Marion Vogt, 99, died peacefully on Saturday (Nov.
12, 2011) at Schowalter Villa in Hesston.
He was born the seventh of eight children on Oct. 8, 1912,
on a farm south of Moundridge to Chris and Barbara Ruth Vogt and grew up on a
farm west of Hesston. He graduated from Hesston Academy in 1931. In 1935, after
offering Dorothy Verle Hershberger a stick of Juicy Fruit gum in typing class,
he farmed 80 acres of wheat to pay off her $25 school loan and then married her
in her family's home outside of Milford, Neb., on Oct. 12. She survives.
On the way home from their Colorado honeymoon, Willard and
Verle stopped at his parent's farmhouse, and his father told them they were
moving to town and Willard and Verle were to take over the farm. They lived at
the farm until they moved to Hickory Street in Hesston in 1964.
Willard never missed church and was baptized at Garden
Community Church then transferred his membership to Hesston Mennonite Church
after the death of his mother when he was 13. He currently is a member of
Kingdom Life Ministries in Hesston. He was a cattle and wheat farmer who worked
with the Gideons, and was on the building committee at Hesston Mennonite
Church. He housed a canning truck for the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)
Meat Canning program. Willard enjoyed retirement in south Texas and Phoenix,
driving an RV, and playing with his grandchildren.
Willard is survived by his wife, Dorothy Verle Hershberger
of Hesston; and son, Gary Vogt and his wife, Ruth of Hesston.
He was preceded in death by mother, Barbara, who died when
he was 13; father, Christian; his brothers and sisters, Milton, Paul, Clara,
Nelson, Harvey, Helen and Ralph; his daughter, Janet Zook; and son, Richard.
Visitation was Monday at the Schowalter Villa Chapel in
Hesston.
Memorial services will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Kingdom Life
Ministries in Hesston. Pastor Scott Miller will preside. A private family
burial will take place at Eastlawn Cemetery.
The family suggests, in lieu of flowers, memorials may be
given to either MCC for meat canning or HCJB Ministries: Zook Family in support
of his grandson's radio mission in Ecuador, in care of Miller-Ott Funeral Home,
107 S. Lancaster, P.O. Box 32, Hesston, KS 67062.
