Christine E. (Vogel) O’Hagan

At home, Christine E. (Vogel) O’Hagan was a devoted wife, a proud mother of three, and grandmother to two. At work, she was a schoolteacher and sold real estate. And in her heart, she was an artist, waiting for the right moment to fully blossom.

She died March 8 of lung cancer, at age 84. Just seven years earlier, she had been admitted as an exhibiting artist at the Guild of Creative Art in Shrewsbury. The dream was years in the making.

She’d been creating art since she was a kid—designing dresses, sketching cartoons for the Long Branch High School paper. Local businesses used her art for years, including Paul’s Edgewater Restaurant and the Neptune Music Circus. But does that make you an artist? She wasn’t sure.

Life took her in other directions. She went to college and got a Master’s degree. In her 20s, she married Robert O’Hagan and supported him at home and through his legal and judicial career, a devotion for which he was unendingly grateful. She prepared her children for lives of their own.

Finally, she did what she had always wanted: signed up for painting classes at the Guild, where mentor Yvonne Aubert changed her life. Her beautiful watercolors now hang in many homes.

She is survived by children Maureen, Bob, and Steve, their spouses Claire and Tracy, grandkids Cormac and Riley, her brother Roy, along with nieces, nephews and extended family.

When she was accepted into the Guild, she brought family to see the show. Three-year-old Riley ran around the gallery ecstatically yelling, “Never ever give up!”

Well said.

Memorial visitation will be held on Saturday, April 13, 2024 from 2-4pm at the Fiore-Buckley Funeral Home, 236 Monmouth Road, Oakhurst, Ocean Township. For condolences, please visit www.fiorefuneralhomes.com.