Gene Henry Hogberg Obituary
We are sad to announce that on March 10, 2023 we had to say goodbye to Gene Henry Hogberg (Sachse, Texas). Family and friends can send flowers and/or light a candle as a loving gesture for their loved one. Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this memorial page of Gene Henry Hogberg to show support.
A graveside service was held on Monday, March 13th 2023 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM at the Sachse Cemetery (3033 6th St, Sachse, TX 75048).
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On Monday, March 13, 2023, in a graveside service officiated by Doug Horchak, long-time elder Gene Hogberg was laid to rest following terminal colon cancer. Gene Hogberg was born October 7, 1937 on the south side of Chicago, Illinois to Swedish immigrants, Henry and Ruth Hogberg. His father was a painter for the Pullman Railroad Company and his mother a housewife. He had a very sweet and inquisitive nature as a boy and loved sports, trolleys and all things Swedish. Tragedy struck him at the age of 13 when he contracted polio and was hospitalized for nearly 6 months. Though he lost the muscle in one leg, he considered himself fortunate and his focus shifted to more academic and serious matters.
During a year of junior college, he heard the thundering voice of Mr. Herbert Armstrong addressing the prophecies of how New York and London would someday face the same fate as Tyre and Sidon. He applied and went out to Pasadena without ever even attending a church service first in Chicago. Beginning Ambassador College in 1956, he was there at the beginning of explosive growth for the church and college. His natural interests in history, the Bible, and world events, led him to help establish a News Bureau to assist the Armstrongs and other church writers with research showing international societal trends that would eventually lead to the collapse of our society and the end of the present age if nations did not turn towards God. Though sent out after graduation as a ministerial trainee, he was rushed back to headquarters to get his Masters degree in theology, develop the News Bureau, write for the Plain Truth and begin teaching at Ambassador College.
He met a teacher and college graduate of Texas State College in College Station, Texas, Barbara Ruth Sipe, when she decided to attend Ambassador College. She was later assigned as his secretary in the News Bureau. Gene fell in love with her magnetic smile and one-of-a-kind effervescence and they were married on January 23, 1966. Sons Neal Hamilton and Derek William soon followed. Mr. Hogberg thoroughly enjoyed teaching International Relations and Geography classes at the three Ambassador College campuses, while also carving out time to teach public speech in Ambassador Clubs. Any congregation or festival site he attended was packed with generations of former students, including the majority of the men who had been called to serve in the ministry.
The sheer quantity of Mr. Gene Hogberg's writing was amazing, with the number of his articles, editorials and booklets numbering in the thousands. As the World News Editor, he regularly wrote the cover article for the Plain Truth magazine that was read by nearly 20 million people every month, and also the "Worldwatch" column in Worldwide News for brethren. He also assisted the sermons of a burgeoning ministry by teaching numerous ministerial refresher classes and writing the "World News and Trends" supplements in the Pastor General's Report. The highly requested church booklets "Russia and China In Prophecy" and "The Modern Romans" were also penned by his hand. Mr. Hogberg also trained and managed News Bureau staff in Pasadena, Washington D.D., Bricket Wood, U.K. and Brussels, Belgium. The men he carefully mentored developed into the writers that formed the backbone of what became the editorial arm of God's work. Mr. Hogberg was no stranger to travel, having visited more than eighty countries doing research and interviews for the magazine and World Tomorrow television program, which he combined with preaching to congregations on nearly every continent.
Later, along with his wife Barbara, he was given the great privilege to travel with and assist Mr. Herbert Armstrong on lengthy trips to Europe, Africa and the Middle East to meet with world leaders, royalty and presidents and proclaim the good news of God's coming kingdom. Even with his often grueling travel schedule, Mr. Hogberg never slipped in his demanding writing duties. Knowing his outstanding dedication, Mr. Armstrong sent him a treasured note recognizing Mr. Hogberg's "conscientious service far above what is required as a profitable servant of God."
To the end, Mr. Hogberg was guiding, training and teaching, and his final public act in God's service was the lay on of hands during the baptism of his granddaughter Chloe.
Some photos and more tributes can be found at:
https://churchofgodnetwork.org/special-bulletin/in-loving-memory-of-mr-gene-hogberg/