Edwin F Vogt

Husband, Father, Grandfather, and Great Grandfather

Ed was born in Cloud Chief, Oklahoma to Edd J Vogt and Opal Moritz Vogt. He grew up in Corn, Oklahoma, a Mennonite farming community. His family grew cattle, cotton, wheat and other crops.

On August 14, 1959, Ed and Joyce Reimer were married the summer following their graduation from high school at Corn Bible Academy. Ed graduated from Southwestern Collage in Weatherford, OK with a degree in Mathematics and became a high school teacher. Later he earned a double Masters in Mathematics and Industrial Arts.

In 1961, their first son, Christopher, was born. Their second son, Jeffrey, was born in 1964.

In 1968, the Vogts moved to Sacramento, California where Ed acquired a teaching position with the Sacramento City Schools district. He taught at several schools in the district until he retired at 55 years of age.

Ed, Joyce and their two sons lived in the city for several years but found the saying true that "You can take the farmer from the farm but you can't take the farm from the farmer!" Even though Ed and Joyce had a full acre of land in town and a huge garden, they missed the vastness of living on a farm. In 1973, they bought their first farm in Pleasant Grove, California - 60 acres including about 55 acres of irrigated pasture where they eventually raised 220 head of beef cattle. Over the next decade, they transitioned from beef cattle to growing rice. The operation expanded from there.

Throughout his life, Ed was involved in ministry through their church affiliations and other Christian ministries such as Boys Brigade and The Gideons International. He really enjoyed working construction projects for ministry. After the boys grew up, Ed and Joyce would travel to various camps and missions around the US to support them with their construction needs.

Ed and Joyce also enjoyed golfing and traveling in their 5th wheel travel trailer. They were golfing across the US when they found the links of Fairfield Glade in Crossville, Tennessee. The fell in love with the area and bought a vacant lot to build a home before leaving. Following Christmas with the family in California, they packed their 5th wheel and drove to Crossville to start working on their new project. That was a colder than usual winter and the 5th wheel was cold and cramped so they purchased their first Fairfield Glade home overlooking golf tee which they upgraded to suit their tastes. Over time they fell in love with the lakes in the area and bought a lakefront home (which they remodeled). A vacant lakefront lot caught their eye down the street... after a few years, they bought the lot and built a custom home there that they moved into shortly after Ed's 80th birthday. He was able to enjoy the beautiful home on the lake until his demise.

Ed is survived by Joyce and their sons Chris and Jeff along with their wives (Wendy and Cindy) and his grandchildren: Christopher II, Joshua (married to Amada Bies), Victoria, Elizabeth (married to James Helm), Ryan and Amanda). His great grandchildren (Joshua's kids) are Judah and Fiona. His older sister, Ollie Brooks, also survives him.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to The Gideons International in Ed's memory.

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