Jack Edward Hogan, age 78, of Springfield, passed away Tuesday, December 2, 2008, in his home. Jack was the son of David Lee Hogan and Theo Bernice Smith Hogan, and was born August 4, 1930, in West Plains, Missouri. He graduated from West Plains High School and entered the United States Navy at age 17, serving on a ship in the Persian Gulf. After leaving the Navy at age 20, Jack moved to Springfield, to work at Thieme Hunt Abstract Company. He started from the ground floor working for no pay doing everything including sweeping the floors to learn the business. In the early days he ran deliveries for the company on the city bus. He worked his way through the ranks to partner and eventually owner and founder of Hogan Land Title Company. His business and his family were his life. Jack thought of and treated the hundreds of Hogan employees as extended family. Jack was a humble and gracious man and always attributed his success to good fortune and the good people in his life. Despite his humility, he was a highly respected businessman and a pioneer in the tile insurance industry. He had a gift for developing systems and technology and wrote software for his industry before it was commercially available. He was a visionary when it came to the technical aspects of the title business. On November 7, 1962, Jack was united in marriage to Rebecca Kruse. They were blessed with nearly half a century together. They weathered good times and bad, joy and sorrow and were comforted in challenges by the serenity prayer. Jack was preceded in death by his parents, his four siblings, David Lee Hogan, Anne Baker, Mary Hogan and Martha Crawford; his brother-in-law, Bud Kruse, and his nephew Bud Crawford. He is survived by his wife, Rebecca Kruse; his children, Kim Chaffin and her husband, Keith, and their children, Sam, Ross and Anabelle; Crista Hogan and her husband, Tedd Hamaker and their children, Rebecca, Claude, Theo, Joe, Lena, and Dan; David (Bud) Hogan and his wife, Mary and their children, Jack and Nick. He also recently became a great-grandfather and is survived by his great-grandbaby, Soren. Jack is also survived by his dear nieces and nephews and the employees of Hogan Land Title. The family will receive friends in the Nave of Christ Episcopal Church, Wednesday, December 3, 2008, from 4 to 6 p.m. Funeral services will be held in Christ Episcopal Church Thursday, December 4, 2008, at 11 a.m. under the direction of Gorman-Scharpf Brentwood Chapel with burial to follow in Greenlawn Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the American Diabetes Association, 1944 E. Sunshine, Suite A, Springfield, MO 65804, or the American Cancer Society, 3322 S. Campbell, Springfield, MO 65807.
