Date of Death: March 25, 2020
Service Details
A memorial Mass for Ralph Vogel will be held Saturday, October 24, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church (601 S. Douglas Ave., Three Rivers), with Fr. Mathias officiating. The Mass will be livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/rajaian.mathias.
A memorial service will be held later that day at 1:00 p.m. at Meyer Broadway Park (59475 County Park Drive, Three Rivers), with Rev. Brenda Deily of First Presbyterian Church Three Rivers/Centreville officiating.
Private burial of cremains will follow in Harwood Lake Cemetery.
Obituary Notice
Ralph Anthony Vogel, Jr., age 94, of Three Rivers passed away on Wednesday, March 25, 2020, at Heartland Healthcare Center in Three Rivers.
He was born July 16, 1925, in Columbus, Ohio to the late Ralph A. Vogel, Sr., and Olga (Valls) Vogel.
He served in the United States Navy during WWII. He had a long career as a mechanical engineer with Essex Wire and United Technologies Corporation, where he secured numerous patents, by himself and with co-workers. All of Ralph’s family, friends, and colleagues relied on his ability to design, build, or repair anything mechanical or electrical. In his retirement he travelled the world with his beloved wife Sarah, built and flew an Ultralite airplane, and sailed on Corey Lake. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality recognized Ralph for his decades of measuring water clarity at Corey Lake. Having graduated from Ohio State University in the late 1940s, he was a lifelong fan of Ohio State football. He restored, and donated to the City of Three Rivers, a railroad velocipede which had been built at the Sheffield Car Company in Three Rivers in the nineteenth century; this velocipede is currently on display at the local library.
He was preceded in death by his wives Sarah E. Vogel and Mary Ellen Brown and his brother, Arthur Vogel.
Survivors include a son, Terence Vogel and wife Daphne; daughters, Christine M. Horsmon and husband Albert; Kathleen Vogel; Barbara M. Vogel; Lisa M. Sussex and husband Dr. Michael Sussex; a stepdaughter, Kathy L. McDonough; and a stepson, John E. Kroggel and wife Barbara. His eight grandchildren include Charles Vogel, Nik Horsmon, Hannah Rice, Cash Scott, Claire Utrecht, Jolise Kent, Grayson Dudd, and Mina DeBoer. His step-grandchildren are John McDonough, Tom McDonough, Kristofer and Kevin McDonough. He has six great-grandchildren, and three step-great -grandchildren.
Additional Information
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations may be sent to Three Rivers Homecare and Hospice, 711 S. Health Parkway, Three Rivers, MI 49093, or the Carnegie Center for the Arts in Three Rivers.
Please Leave Your Condolences
When your condolences are submitted they will not display until approved by the Hohner staff for appropriateness out of respect for their memory. They should appear within 24 hours or less. Thank you for your understanding
Prayers and profound condolences from Darina and Tom Vogel in Columbus, Ohio
Tom is a first cousin.
Dear Chris and other cousins. My sincere condolences
I knew both Mr and Mrs (Sarah) Vogel both wonderful and amazing people! My condolences to the family
Mr. Vogel’s passing is a huge loss for our community. A man of so many talents. Several of his talents were with the Three Rivers Community School family. He donated his knowledge over and over to so many of our students who participated in extracurricular clubs over the years. A thank you would never be enough for his contribution to so many.
All of us here at Corey Lake Orchards want to express our sympathy to all of the family for the loss of Ralph. His frequent trips to the orchard will be remembered fondly by all of us, he might win a record for the most frequent trips to buy freshly pressed apple cider! He always had a smile and kind word for everyone, he had two special nicknames for me, calling me Mrs. Green Jeans and the Queen of Green Acres. We shared the same birthday! May he rest in peace. Beth
I have many wonderful memories of travel with Ralph and Sarah. Sailing the British Virgin Islands; flying to Alaska and enjoying panning for gold: our trip to Isle Royale; taking the many switchbacks to get to the bottom of Copper Canyon; a fun time to visit friends in Guanajuato, Mexico. I was so impressed with his enthusiasm to find out how everything worked! And his love and devotion to Sarah throughout their marriage.
I worked with Ralph from about 1980 till he retired around 1990, best I can recall. Before that he worked at Herman Mfg, which was owned by Essex Wire. Herman built a huge amount of machinery used in at least 20 Essex plants from the east coast to California. As an example, one plant in Kendallville, IN had 60 fine wire copper drawing machines about half the size of a car with each machine producing wire at 2 miles per minute. Just for fun calculate how much that is for a week. Ralph was always tweaking those to make a better product. For those that knew Ralph but not Essex, the company, in 1990, processed one million pounds of copper per day seven days a week into wire products. He and George Myers made the daily trip of 80+ miles from Three Rivers to Fort Wayne. I remember him saying his main fear in making the trip was an Amish buggy turning left in front of him because “the horse knows where the barn is even if the driver is asleep”. I still chuckle about that one. He was honest and a fun person to work with. We will always remember you Ralph.
Jim Gerencser
Enjoyed knowing and working with ralph. Without a doubt he was the most brilliant engineer I have ever known.
God Bless and A Heartfelt Thank YOU, Ralph for your service in WWII, The USA would NOT be as it is today. I treasure the freedoms for which YOU fought. “Fair winds and following seas”. YOU were ONE of the”Greatest Generations”. And Semper Fi. ……….. Sailor.
Ralph’s passing is a great loss to our community, especially Corey Lake. He was a mechanical and electrical genius who was always generous with his time and talents. He could repair or build almost anything and did a lot of work on sailboats for Corey Lake Yacht Club members. He also kept the Yacht Club’s committee boat fueled and running and kept it moored to his dock for many many years. .He designed and built ingenious electrical powered boat lifts for the late Tom Mittler’s two boat houses and many boats. He measured and reported on the water quality of Corey Lake for more than 25 years— a very time consuming job. He fabricated dozens of Secchi discs for MichiganLakes and Streams association members, donating his time for this work. He designed, built, and maintained grills and other equipment for the Peterson drain outlet as well as kept the outlet to Kaiser Lake open. He and Sara generously hosted many Corey Lake Yacht Club events at their lake front home. He will be greatly missed. Unfortunately, We will not see his kind again. Kay & Bill Hokanson
Was saddened to see about Ralph what a great and energetic force of nature he was. A school mate of mine Keith Caudill started out his professional career working for Ralph and made our introduction. I had the pleasure of taking his 1913 Richmond touring car apart for him and restoring it. He and I were on the local news channel going for a ride when it was done. He was a notable point in my 40 year career. I’m sure he will be missed by all who knew him. Rest In Peace Ralph, Derk J Hinsey
Uncle Ralph will be dearly missed!
Seeing this notice makes me immediately think of my ideal of a kind, generous, smart man. We should all try to emulate Ralph. He lives as his memory.🙏
I’m very sorry for your loss.. my condolences to your family at this time..
My condolences to the family. I never knew him, but met rest of the family.
So sorry for your loss.
Prayers to your family.
Terry and family – I cherish my memories of getting to know your Father, a man of many gifts and talents. While it is sad when a beloved family member passes away, let’s feel peace that he has moved on to a better place. Ralph was a stellar example of how to live life to the fullest. I well remember the engaged gleam in his eye when he spoke of designing a windmill generator. His successful pursuit of ultralight flight brought him rich experiences most will never know. Fly high Ralph and know that you are missed.
Deepest sympathy to the family. I worked with Ralph at Essex in the 70’s. A good man.
My thoughts are with all of the Vogel clan. I will always remember Mr. Vogel’s laugh, him and my dad ( Mutt and Jeff) in the old car. Driving from Ft. Wayne, IN to Three Rivers. Lots of really great memories with your family and mine. Him calling me Sunshine. Kathy, you all are in my thoughts. His picture with his smile. I will always remember that about him. Love to you all. Sharon (Sunshine) Bistodeau (Myers)
Kathy, Terry, Chris, Barb and Lisa,
I am very sorry your Dad is gone.
Your house was a second home to me as I was growing up.
God grant you all His peace and comfort during this sad time.
Christine and family, so sorry for your loss.
So sorry for your loss. The thoughts, prayers and love going out to your family.
Kathy and family, I’m sorry to hear about your loss. Have wonderful memories of growing up on the lake with all the local kids. May the good memories carry you through this unhappy times.