James Richard Ogley

October 13, 1925 - March 21, 2023

James "Dick" Richard Ogley, 97 of Sterling passed away Tuesday, March 21, 2023. A celebration of Dick's life will be held at 10:30 a.m., Friday, March 31, at Peace Lutheran Church with Pastor Jeff Hanson officiating. A luncheon will be held in the fellowship hall following the celebration. Dick will be laid to rest with military honors at 2:00 p.m. at the Ft. Morgan Cemetery columbarium. The way I remember it by Dick Ogley:

I was born on October 13, 1925, in Burdette, CO. I was the sixth child of eight. Our home at that time did not have electricity or running water, we did have a windmill on the farm. My father farmed and helped other farmers in the area. In April of 1932, my father was cultivating a neighbor's field with a team of horses, when he was tragically killed by lightning. I was six years old at the time. We were poor to begin with, but after his death, we were plunged into poverty.

The drought and great depression came, and mom lost the farm. We moved into a vacant house offered to us by a neighbor, it did not have any water on the place. We had to walk one and a half miles to get water in milk cans that we hauled with our child's wagon. We gathered cow chips off the prairie to keep warm during the winter. We used an outside toilet and used Montgomery Ward catalogs to wipe with. Welfare gave us powdered milk, dried prunes, dried apricots, beans and syrup in gallon buckets, along with corduroy pants. We walked two and a half miles to school each day carrying our lunch in empty syrup cans wearing our corduroy pants, so all the kids knew we were on welfare. I usually ate a pancake with lard and sugar on it. When I was twelve or thirteen, we moved to Sterling. I went for one year to high school, then went to work for several farmers. Then came World War II.

Three of my brothers were in the service. When I was seventeen, I tried to join the Army but was refused because they said my teeth were bad. When I turned eighteen, I tried again and joined the Navy. My mother saw her fourth son off at the train station on December 10, 1943. I went to Fargit, Idaho for my basic training. I was in the Navy from 1943-1946. I served aboard the USS Norman Scott destroyer and had a 180,000-mile war cruise in the

Pacific. On July 24th,1944, I was aboard the ship when it was hit with six, six-inch shore batteries off the small island of Tinian, by

Saipan. It killed twenty-three sailors including the captain and injured fifty-five more. We came back to the states for repairs for twenty-six days and then headed back to the war zone. During that time, I received 7 Bronze stars, two in the Marshalls, one in Lingayen Gulf, one in Iwo Jima, one in Okinawa, one in the Philippine's waters, and one for the bombardment of Japan. I served in three wars: WWII, Korean, and Vietnam.

After serving my time in the Navy I worked at a sawmill, in the oil fields, and several dairies around the area. On February 15, 1952, I married Norma Nelson in Sterling. After we were married, I joined the Air Force in 1953 and was stationed in Great Falls, MT. During this time, we had a son named Chuck Ogley, born on October 13, 1954, and our daughter Tena Marie Ogley, who was born on October 13, 1956. I spent TDY in Alaska, Newfoundland, England, and back to the states, before coming back to Sterling after my service ended in 1967. I worked for Logan County Highway Dept., then went to work for CDOT, retiring in 1986 in Ft. Morgan. In September 1983, I married his second wife, Jean Lauck of Ft. Morgan, CO. She had four daughters and a son whom I cared for as my own. I lived in Ft. Morgan for 30 years, returning to Sterling in 2014. I attended Peace Lutheran Church in Sterling. I was a lifetime member of VFW Post 2551 and American Legion Post 19. I enjoyed Bridge club, loved gardening, dancing and an avid Rockies and baseball fan.

He was preceded in death by his parents Reuben and Annie Ogley; first wife Norma Ogley; daughter Tena Marie (died in the Big Thompson Flood 1976); second wife Jean Ogley; stepson Butch Lauck; stepdaughter Lynn Lauck; brothers Bill, Woodrow "Buck", Ben, Tom, Rueben Jr. and sister Imogene Bivens.

Dick is survived by his son Chuck Ogley and his wife Lois of Sterling, sister Gloria Phillips and husband Tyson of Sterling, stepdaughters Carolyn Clontz of Bend, Oregon, Diane Golgart of Denver and Marlene Blesch of Centennial; stepson-in-law Ed

Blesch of Denver, 10 grandchildren, 16 great grandchildren and numerous nieces, nephews and other relatives.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Harmony Home Assisted Living, 703 Holly Drive, Sterling, CO 80751.