Wilford "Bill" Joel Hoglund Obituary (1929 - 2020)

Wilford "Bill" Joel Hoglund, 90, passed away Tuesday, January 21, 2020 in the early morning for a glorious reunion with his wife Mary and son Richie. Bill was born at home in Salt Lake City, UT to Catherine Sophia Park and Joseph Wilford Hoglund on July 26, 1929. He is survived by his children: Michael of Herriman; Linda Ferguson of American Fork; Gary (Collett) of Lindon; Kathy; Kerry (Marlene) of Colorado Springs, CO; Sharon Christensen, Las Vegas, NV; 37 grandchildren and 47 great grandchildren. He is survived by his brother Boyd (LaDean) of Florida. He was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Marilyn (Lawrence) Hansen, brother Delbert (Betty), and his younger sister, Joann. As a young boy Bill became interested in all kinds of sports. This love affair with athletics was a driving theme throughout his life. In high school he played basketball, football, baseball and ran track. He won many awards both as a player and State Championships with his teams. Later in life being presented to the Utah Softball Hall of Fame while working for the Pleasant Grove recreation department. Bill had many friends that he made while participating on various teams, those from his school and many from other schools. Bill graduated from American Fork high school and seminary in 1947. You always knew where you stood with Bill. He either liked you or he didn't and if you were lucky enough to be one of his friends you had a friend for life. He was loyal, honest and had integrity. While in high school he met the "love of his life", Mary Weeks. They were married in 1949 and sealed for time and all eternity in 1954. They had been together for 70 years. Our mom was the most important person in our Dads life. His first and last thought every day was of her. We have never known a man who truly treasured his wife more than Dad. When she passed away in July last year he was completely lost without her. We are so happy that they are finally together again. Bill loved his family and worked tirelessly to provide the things that a big family requires. He learned to work hard as a young man and never stopped working the rest of his life. Many times 2 or 3 jobs at a time to keep us all afloat. He started working when he was a young boy as a paper boy. He was lucky enough to make a friend with Mr. Miller of the ole Coral theatre in American Fork. Mr. Millar told him if he would include a show bill with his papers he could get free tickets to pass out. This started his lifelong love of the movies. He went from paper boy to projectionist at the ole Starlight Drive-in in American Fork. From there he did so many different kinds of jobs they are much too numerous to list. He landed on his feet at Geneva Steel in 1951 working there for many years in the accounting department. While working for Geneva he won recognition for ideas that he had to make their department run more efficiently. He won a really nice pen for one of his ideas. He started to collect pens from that time on. Subsequently, he has a very fine collection. It was while working at Geneva he realized that his growing family was going to require more money than even two jobs could satisfy. The job at Geneva was at times shaky at best with strikes etc. Dad and mom decided that he should go back to college having only attended LDS Business College previously. This was a very difficult decision to make. Along with the expense it would mean more time away from the family. This decision proved to be a lifesaver for Bill and his family. He worked so hard at BYU while still working full time and accomplished far more than he would have ever believed. He graduated in May 1971, with his Master's Degree in Parks and Recreation. He was then hired on as the Pleasant Grove City Recreation Director. He really put Pleasant Grove on the map. Dad did a fantastic job for the city. He started many programs for the community, ran all the sports games and also took care of the parks. He developed many of the parks around the city. Having at one time worked for the nursery in American Fork he was very knowledgeable about the best grasses, trees and flowers. Dad found that he had a knack for organizing programs and people. Finally Bill retired from Geneva and working for the city. Not one to sit still, ever, he ended up working for the American Fork Bank as a courier. He would drive documents from the bank to Salt Lake City and back. Once again his honesty and integrity played a part. He really enjoyed this job and the many friends he made along the way. After this job was over he kept busy making and selling bird houses. He loved this and took a lot of pride in making each house unique and different. He again won awards at the Utah State Fair for these houses. When he happened to find a couple of free hours on his hands he started to write his life story. What a life Bill lived. He had a friend who helped him put these into book form. Without these books we may not have known everything that our Dad had accomplished as he was never one to toot his own horn. Bill was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He held many positions within the church, scout master, elder's quorum president and counselor in the bishopric. His favorite job was that of being a home teacher. He was way ahead of the principle of "ministering". He did not consider you just a check on his report. If you needed anything, as busy as he was, he was always there. He did not do any of these things to brag or bring attention to himself. He was the last person to do that. He was very humble about all that he accomplished in his life. Everything that he did was always way above and beyond what anybody expected him to do, just believing that was the way to do a job. Our parents traveled extensively all over the world. They went to all but 1 one of the 50 states. They went to Russia, Turkey, Italy and Europe. They very much enjoyed this time in their lives when they were free to discover other lands and peoples. Bill loved to take pictures. There are many pictures of their travels. Funeral services will be held Saturday, February 1, 2020 at 11:00 am in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint Building located at, 455 East 200 South, Pleasant Grove. Family and friends may attend a viewing Friday evening from 6-8 pm at Olpin Family Mortuary, 494 South 300 East, Pleasant Grove and at the church on Saturday from 9:30-10:45 am prior to funeral services. Interment will be in the American Fork City Cemetery. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.olpinmortuary.com