Former lawmaker was the father of Harris DA
Longtime Texas politician Jack Ogg — the father of Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg — died Saturday in Houston, his family said. He was 84.
Ogg, a lawyer and conservative Democrat at a time when Democrats controlled state government, represented the Houston area for 16 years, serving as a state representative from 19671973 and then as a state senator from 1973-1983. He lost a statewide bid for Texas attorney general in 1982 and returned to his law practice in Houston.
The district attorney late Monday said her father had for many years suffered from congestive heart failure but continued to travel, taking a cruise to Spain and Italy just four months ago. He was hospitalized last week and returned home Thursday to hospice care before dying Saturday.
“In addition to being a great statesman, he was a wonderful father,” Kim Ogg said. “We kids always knew we were his top priority. He kept his life in perspective.” She added her father “always told us he loved us and came to all of our events. He was my closest confidante.”
Kim Ogg tapped her father’s political strengths in her bids for the district attorney’s office, first in 2014 and then again, successfully, in 2016, said Rice University political science professor Bob Stein.
"He had what I would call a kind of instinctual knowledge about what you needed to do to reach out to people who didn't necessarily want you in office," Stein said. "(Kim Ogg) would not do anything without her dad. They were pretty tight."'
The Kansas City, Mo., native became a well-known figure throughout his 52-year career in Texas politics and law, He was married to longtime philanthropist Connie Harner Ogg for more than 50 years, until her death from colon cancer in 2010.
The two met and married in 1959. Kim Ogg, their first child, was born later that year, followed by son Jon Ogg in 1969.
Over their 50-year marriage, the couple visited every continent and 172 countries together, according to a statement from his family.
“Born with an explorer’s heart, Jack Ogg traveled to more than 225 countries and islands and visited all seven continents,” according to the statement. “His adventurous spirit defied his health issues, and Jack’s travels continued until the end of life.”
He was born Sept. 7, 1933 during the Depression as the oldest of three sons to Jewel and Mildred Ogg. His family moved to Houston in the 1950s for work, and he graduated