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Florence Hogenof Kadoka, South Dakota, died on Friday, January 9, 2015
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Among the Last of the “Greatest Generation”
Florence Hogen, 94, of Kadoka passed away at the Philip Hospital on Friday, January 9, 2015. Her death followed a bout with the flu.
Florence was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation south of Interior in 1920, the second of the five children of Joe Brown and Eloise Trimble Brown. She grew up in Kadoka, where her dad was the barber, and her mom was a homemaker. She graduated in 1938 with the first Kadoka High School class to attend school at the present school building. Among her early jobs in Kadoka was serving as a telephone operator. To rise above the grinding hard times she grew up in, she attended Nettleton School of Business in Sioux Falls, where she learned typing, shorthand, and bookkeeping. She returned to Kadoka and worked in the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) office.
She was a classy young lady, and in 1943 married a dashing Army Air Corps bombardier, Lt. Marvis Hogen, from his folks’ homestead on South Creek north of Kadoka. Their first son, Phil, was born while Marvis was in Europe, flying 30 combat missions in a B-24. He sent money home, and she saved most of it. Florence and Phil lived in Wanblee while her older sister Adele worked for the BIA and she babysat, until Marvis returned.
In 1946, Florence and Marvis found and filled a need in Kadoka. They opened a hardware store on Main Street. They were good at it, and after expanding their original store, twice moved south on Main Street to bigger locations. Florence’s reserve, patience, insight, and quiet wit were a perfect balance to Marvis’ exuberance. They ran the store with the help of their children, Phil, Randi, Baxter and Cash, a host of relatives, and an interesting cast of other good help, and they developed a devoted town, farm, and ranch clientele for miles around. While keeping the books, ordering and selling housewares, and waiting on the trade at the store, Florence likely got acquainted with everybody in Jackson and Washabaugh County and beyond. She treated them right, and they kept coming back.
Marvis’ interest in politics—State Legislature, Secretary of Agriculture, State FMHA Director, as well as their world travels—finally took them away from the day-to-day operation of the store. But from 1978 until it passed from Hogen family ownership in 2012 (67 years), daughter Randi and her husband Don Oyan ably managed the operation, assisted by son Baxter who could do service work of any kind. Marvis and Florence opened a Hogen’s Hardware store in Pierre in 1988, which son Cash and his wife Julie, took over in 1992 and own and operate today.
Florence and Marvis bought ranchland next to the Hogen homestead north of Kadoka, where they operated the Haywire Land & Cattle Co., which son Baxter and family own and run today.
Florence was very active in the community, and likely was the longest-serving member of a number of the groups she was devoted to. She was a devout member of South Creek Lutheran Church, and then, when it moved to town, of Faith Lutheran and Concordia Lutheran, which it became. She and Marvis seldom missed a meeting of the “Commercial Club” (which became KCBA). The American Legion Auxiliary, the PTA, the Hospital Board, and other local organizations depended on her. She drove hundreds of miles getting kids to baseball games and scouting activities and such. If there was a Republican meeting in Kadoka, she was there, probably helping serve the lunch.
She never forgot her Oglala Sioux heritage. Her son Phil inherited not only that heritage but also her dedication to Republican politics, serving as U.S. Attorney for South Dakota appointed by President Reagan and as Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission appointed by President George W. Bush.
She and Marvis made their first home in a building built on a sheep wagon, behind the hardware store. When the store grew, they moved the sheep wagon house east. In 1953 they built their new house on what was then the west edge of Kadoka, where she made a beautiful and comfortable home, raised her family, and where she lived—with the dedicated assistance of daughter Randi—until August, when she moved to the Kadoka Nursing Home.
Much of Florence’s history is recounted in Marvis’ 1996 book, 50 Years On Main Street.
Florence is survived by children Phil (Marty) of Black Hawk, Randi (Don) Oyan of Kadoka, Baxter (Diane) of Kadoka and Cash (Julie) of Pierre, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, and her sister Doris Rock of Sturgis. She was preceded in death by her husband, Marvis (1997), her parents, Joe and Eloise Brown, sister Adele Treis, and brothers Joe Brown and Edwin “Sub” Brown.
Her long and rewarding life were celebrated at services at the Kadoka City Auditorium at 10 AM on Tuesday, January 13, 2015, with visitation at Concordia Lutheran Church in Kadoka on Monday from 5 to 7 PM. Interment was at the Kadoka Cemetery.
FUNERAL SERVICES
Tuesday, January 13, 2015 - 10:00 a.m.
Kadoka City Auditorium
Kadoka, South Dakota
CLERGY
Pastor Duane Neugebauer
Pastor Inga Oyan Longbrake
MUSIC
Syd Iwan - Pianist
Susan Davidson - Vocalist
“Blessed Assurance”
Congregational Hymns
“Rock of Ages”
“Beautiful Savior”
Special Music
Cora Hogen Fett - “Song Without Words”
USHERS
Dr. Paul Swisher - Brett Prang
John Bauman - Joe R. Brown
PALLBEARERS
Elijah Hogen - Isaiah Hogen
Herb Hogen - Wil Longbrake
Tony Counts - Brian Skoloff
INTERMENT
Kadoka Cemetery
Kadoka, South Dakota