It began more than sixty years ago, in a small community on Long Island, called Hicksville. The pastoral landscape that surrounded this small hamlet was about to be changed forever, and from this serene and humble place came what would prove more lasting than its pastoral images and just as genuine and pure. In the late 1930's Richard Hogan Sr. was born.

The path of his life never steered far from the place of his birth. He was educated in the Hicksville School District where he played for the varsity basketball and baseball teams. After marrying his high school sweetheart, he began teaching at Fork Lane School as a physical education teacher. He went on to teach in the Hicksville junior high school and high school, and was named the athletic director in the 1970s. Ultimately, after receiving a masters degree in educational administration, he served as the principal of the Hicksville High School for 14 years. He retired in 1997.

On March 5, 1999 a funeral Mass was said for him in St. Ignatius Loyola Church, the place of his baptism. Attempting to get a grasp of his life and the impact he had on those he met, the Hicksville Illustrated News has interviewed a sampling of people who knew him in different phases of his life.

Richard Evers, a Hicksville historian, taught in the junior high school when Hogan was a student and later worked with him as a teacher and an administrator.

After being reminded about his long standing window into the life of this mainstay in Hicksville, Evers said, "I never really thought of it that way, but I did run the whole span with him seeing him as a student then working under his administration as principal.

"He was always obliging. We could talk over school problems. . . He was always very proud of course of our students. He would tend to correct any wrong conceptions that people would have of Hicksville. I thought that he was an exceptional principal."

He continued, "he was a very congenial person. There was a sense of business about him also, in the sense that you were dealing with someone of good principles. I found him very community orientated and intensely proud of his school.

Rose Walker, president of the High School PTSA, remembers having Mr. Hogan as a gym teacher when she was a 7-year old student at Fork Lane School.

She wrote in a message in the monthly PTA bulletin how she and her girlfriend would wait to be the last ones out of the locker room so they could be Mr. Hogan's partner during the square dancing unit of the class. In that message she writes, he "was a young, good looking, energetic young man with a love for all children and his work."

Since those youthful days, Walker has raised a family in Hicksville, worked in the school district, and been an active PTA member. She holds many amusing and tender memories of Hogan, as he would also play a large role in the education and life of her own children.

"It is funny, you think of someone who means so much to you, and you have worked with, and you have known since you were little and then when you have to put into words about how you feel about that person it is hard to say exactly how you feel because they did mean so much, in so many aspects of your life. . . I mean everything about them has been special. . . . He was such a special guy," said Walker.

"People always felt they could go and talk to him, whether they were students or parents. . . I really believe his loyalty to the community and the kids of Hicksville is his legacy," said Buddy Bryan, a retired Hicksville physical education teacher and friend of Hogan. "You stay in one place for 37, 38 years and in dealing with all those kids you are seeing not just them come through you, you're seeing their kids come through you. I think that takes a certain amount of loyalty and dedication."

He continued, "He was probably the most loyal Hicksville person I have ever met. He was born and raised here. He played ball for them. . . . He stayed in Hicksville. He raised his family in Hicksville. They all went to Hicksville High School and his kids ended up marrying people from Hicksville.

It was his dedication to the community and his students coupled with a strong moral conviction that made him so special to so many.

"He was a very fair person.. . . . He taught all his students and players to do the right thing," said Walker. "You try your best to make the right choices. Sometimes it is not the easiest choice. He had very high moral standards about everything."

"His faith meant a great deal to him, it underlied his character," said Evers. "While he was not a demonstrative type of religious person, you knew you were dealing with a man of substance and character."

He continued, "It is a loss, it is always a loss when you miss out on people like this. Fortunately he left his example. A good life is not forgotten. It goes on and on and on in the context that he made and in the way that he projected his ideals. . . His life is his legacy to us, the example of his life. It will go on in the children who had him and those of us who worked with him. As a historian you are inclined to think in moral terms. Richard was an outstanding person".

Robert Walker, president of student government, 1993 and son of Rose Walker, said he learned from Hogan how to work with others.

"He was always caring for the people. You have to really care for each other and work together to make things better. . . You have to be a team," said Robert Walker. "Everybody has their place, has their role and if we all work together we are going to accomplish something very nice. Which I think we did."

He continued, "He was well liked because he knew where you were coming from as a student. At the same time he knew what his role was as the principal."

Following the death of Richard G. Hogan, the former principal of Hicksville High School, the Hicksville High School PTSA has established a scholarship in his memory.

In a press release from the organization, Hogan is described as an "outstanding educator, tireless student advocate, staunch supporter of PTA, and a role model and inspiration to us all."

The scholarship will be presented each year in addition to the scholarships already established by the PTA. "He would give you the world. He was just a very kind, giving and caring person who was very much a part of Hicksville's whole community. . . and this [scholarship] is something that we thought he would be very happy about, to see that something was going back to the kids that meant so much to him."

Those wishing to make a donation to the The Hicksville High School PTSA Richard G. Hogan Memorial Scholarship can mail a check made out to "HHS-PTSA" to Rose Walker, president, HHS-PTSA Richard G. Hogan Memorial Scholarship, Hicksville High School, 180 Division Avenue, Hicksville, NY 11801-4899. An acknowledgement of your gift will be sent to Mr. Hogan's family.

Mr. Hogan was the sweetest man on the face of this earth.

When I was only 3 years old, he and a few other kids threw a dance for me. I will never forget him.

Mr. Hogan would always put the kids in the Hicksville School District first.

He always said it was like a family reunion and any child who knew him said they should be proud to have Mr. Hogan as a role model, even including myself.

Meghan Coutieri

11th Grade Student

Hicksville High School