Larry Gray Ogden, 79, a resident of Lower Pottsgrove Township, PA, since September of 2020, passed away Tuesday night, May 7, 2024, at Grand View Hospital in Sellersville, PA. He and his wife, Janice E. (Brown) Ogden, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on November 2nd of last year. They called many towns home over the years, including Souderton, PA; Telford, PA; Ridge Valley, PA; Youngstown, NY; Henderson, NV; Butler, PA; Portland, TX; Prairieville, LA; Bakersfield, CA; and Waves, NC.
Born August 1, 1944, in Sellersville, PA, he was a son of the late Frederick Joseph and Caroline (Gregg) Ogden. He was a 1962 graduate of Souderton High School and completed Labor Relations and Human Resource Studies at Antioch University, Villanova University, Penn State University, and Harvard University.
Mr. Ogden began his working career in 1968 as a scale technician at Merck, Sharp and Dohme. In the late 1970’s-1988 he was the international union representative for the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union, where he was involved with legislative work both in Harrisburg, PA, and Washington D.C. He began employment in 1988 with Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) in Pottstown, PA, and then transferred with the company to Niagara Falls, NY, until 1997. From 1997-2002 he served as human resource manager with Pioneer Chlor Alkalai in Henderson, NV, as well as the company’s plant manager in Tracy, CA. He then worked again with Oxy as human resource manager from 2002 until 2009 in Petrolia, PA, Ingleside, TX, and Prairieville, LA. He then retired but was hired again in 2011 by Occidental Petroleum as a consultant in Bakersfield, CA.
Mr. Ogden attended Fairhaven United Methodist Church in Rodanthe, NC, where he served as treasurer. He was an integral part of the rebuilding of the church after it’s destruction in 2011 by Hurricane Irene. He was a 58-year member of Shiloh-MacCalla Lodge #558 F. & A.M. of Souderton, PA, and was a 32nd degree Mason with Lehigh Consistory. He served as Commander of Niagara Power Squadron, board member of McCaw School of Mines in Henderson, NV, treasurer of Rotary Club of Ingleside, TX, and president of Spring Valley Farms Homeowners Association in Lower Pottsgrove, PA. Mr. Ogden served as president of the Hatteras Island Community Emergency Response Team from 2011-2021. He received the NC Governor’s Medallion for volunteer service in 2021. It is the highest honor for civilians in volunteer service for training and equipping more than 40 volunteers to respond to their community before, during and after an emergency.
It mattered not where he was living at the time, he was a devoted Eagles fan and loved all Philly sports! He enjoyed water skiing, boating, deep sea fishing, SCUBA diving, and sitting on the beach.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by three daughters, Sherry Hilgner and her husband, Leonard, Wendy Collins and her husband Jack, and Stephanie Stiles; two sisters, Geraldine Moerseburg and her husband, Uwe, of Palm Harbor, FL, and Carol Hartnett of Hatfield, PA; and a brother, Frederick J. Ogden, II and his wife, Bonnie, of Pennsburg, PA. He is also survived by seven grandchildren, Tara Stabile and her husband Antonio, Kristine Hilgner, Andrew Collins, Makayla Collins, Sarah Stiles, Rachel Stiles and Timothy Stiles; and a great granddaughter, Lilly Ann Moyer.
He was preceded in death by a brother-in-law, William Hartnett; and a nephew, Frederick Joseph Ogden, III.
Family will receive friends from 10-10:45 am on May 15, 2024, at the R. L. Williams, Jr. Funeral Home, Inc., 3440 Skippack Pike at Cedars Rd., Skippack, PA, where the public memorial service will begin at 11 am. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his memory to Fox Chase Cancer Center, 333 Cottman Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19111, ATTN: Institutional Advancement- MDS Research, or at www.foxchase.org/giving NOTE: Gift is in memory of Larry Ogden.
