Belford Eugene Hogoboom

MADISON - Belford Eugene Hogoboom died on June 7, 2011 at Madison, Wisconsin. Known as ""Bill,"" he was born in Manson, Iowa on September 7, 1926 to Florence May Green and Glen Calvin Hogoboom. He was raised in Madison, attended Emerson Elementary School, and graduated from Madison East High School in 1946. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin in 1951, later enrolling in the Law School and Graduate Business School. While at the university, Bill was a member of ROTC and Pershing Rifles. As Bureau Director in the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance, Bill managed the State Life Fund and the State Property Insurance Fund. In 1980, he retired from the employ of the State of Wisconsin and entered private industry, becoming Chief Medical Underwriter at American Family Life Insurance Company, a position he held until he retired in 2002 at the age of 76. His professional memberships included the National Association of Life Underwriters, Chicago Home Office Life Underwriters Association, and Wisconsin Association of Home Office Underwriters. He was listed in Who's Who in Insurance. Bill was a member of the Nakoma Golf Club, Sons of the American Revolution, the Order of Founders and Patriots, Madison Club, University Club, First Congregational Church, and Olbrich Botanical Society. He served as Treasurer of the Sunnyside School Board in the Town of Burke before his active participation in the annexation of that area to the City of Madison. His volunteer work also included PTA and Boy Scouts. Bill married his high school sweetheart, Sarah Catherine Davies, on October 1, 1949 and they had five children. He enjoyed travel and especially his family's annual August vacations at Boyd's Mason Lake Resort in Fifield, Wisconsin. Bill is survived by his wife, Sarah; his five children, Jan (Mark) Miller, Will (Nadine Connor) Hogoboom, Glen (Roberta) Hogoboom, Gene (Chris Jackson) Hogoboom, and Mary (Matt Reigel) Hogoboom; his thirteen grandchildren, Sarah (Justin) Ludwig, Samantha (Aaron) Peterka, JJ (Courtney) Miller, and David Miller; Buck (Jamie Teche) Hogoboom, Alec Hogoboom, and Maia Hogoboom; Jan Hogoboom and Charles Hogoboom; Emily Hogoboom and Reis Hogoboom; Kristine Kapica and Beau Crawley; his two great-grandsons, Mason Ludwig and Riley Miller; his sister, Nova (Al) Zilisch; and his sisters-in-law, Jean (Farnsley) Peters and LaVeda Davies. Bill is further survived by Chris, Dalton, and Jordan Reigel; Jordan and Quinten Ludwig; and Owen and Aiden Reeb. He was preceded in death by his mother and father, Florence and Glen Hogoboom; his sister, Maxine Hogoboom; his mother-in-law and father-in-law, Ava and Thomas Davies; his brothers-in-law, John and David Davies; and a great-grandson, Kellen James Ludwig. Bill's ashes will be interred in the Davies plot at Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison. A celebration of life in Bill's memory will be held for family and friends on Thursday, June 9, 2011 at 5:00 p.m at Bill and Sarah's lake house, 5152 Spring Court, Madison, 608-233-0444. The family would like to acknowledge and thank the staff at University of Wisconsin Hospital Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. Bill will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by his family and all those whose lives he touched.

They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path converges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.
Ernest Dowson 1867-1900