Joseph Hogan, staff worker of Madonna House, died peacefully on June 11, 2019 in The Valley Manor, Barry’s Bay, ON. He had been a member of Madonna House for 63 years.
Joe, son of Edmund Kevin and Catherine Nicholson Hogan, was born in Chicago, IL, on 1 November 1932, along with his twin brother, John. He attended St. Leo High School and Loyola University in Chicago and received his B.S. degree in Sociology from the University of Portland while serving as a member of the Madonna House community there.
Joe first became acquainted with the work of Madonna House through contact with Friendship House in Chicago, and then visited Madonna House in the summer of 1955. Feeling drawn to the vocation, returned in January of 1956 to become an applicant. He made his first promises in the community on 15 August 1956. Joe was one of the three men who first began farming at Madonna House and served many years at St. Benedict Acres Farm. He also served at Stella Maris House, Portland, OR; Marian Centre, Edmonton; and Our Lady of Aquia, Virginia. Joe was an avid reader and writer and had a number of articles on the Church and on the Lay Apostolate published in various periodicals.
Joe was predeceased by his parents, three brothers (Edmund Jr., Francis and Lawrence) and three sisters (Mary Ellen, Kathleen and Marie. He is survived by his twin brother, John.
The family of Madonna House is deeply grateful to the staff of The Valley Manor for the attentive and gracious care extended to Joe over the past years. May the Lord bless them abundantly!
Wake services for Joe were held on Friday, June 14, at St. Mary’s Chapel, Madonna House. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Saturday, June 15, at St. Mary’s Chapel with internment at the Madonna House cemetery. A reception followed.