Joseph M. Hogan

Albany, NY-Joseph M. Hogan, 87, known respectfully by so many as “Coach Hogan”, entered Eternal Life Wednesday, December 13, 2023 at home with his beloved wife Marcia at his side. It has been said that the beauty of teaching and coaching is that teachers and coaches get to touch lives, to make a difference in the lives of their students and players. If that is the case, then it would be hard to measure the impact Joe Hogan had on the thousands of students and athletes he impacted over the course of his career. Teaching and coaching on both the high school and college levels for over thirty years, Joe's career at Watervliet High School and Siena College was one characterized by innovation, success, and student connection. Born on July 12, 1936, in Albany, he attended Our Lady of Angels and St. Joseph's Academy in Albany. He then entered the Holy Cross Brotherhood and attended St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas, where he graduated with a degree in Education and History. He received a master’s degree in education from Siena College in 1967. Joe received his first teaching assignment upon his undergraduate graduation in 1960 at Monsignor Coyle High School in Taunton, Massachusetts, and later taught and coached at Mackin High School in Washington D.C., and Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Maryland. Many players from these schools went on to play Division I basketball, and one, Austin Carr, continued on to play in the NBA. In 1966, Joe returned home to take a teaching assignment at Watervliet High School, where he served as a Social Studies teacher until his retirement in 1991. In 1970, he was awarded a National Science Foundation Grant in Economics to study at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts. Joe married his wife Jean in 1966. Their son, Michael, was born the following year. After his retirement, Joe and Jean enjoyed many years wintering in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Joe's coaching career started in 1960, where he coached the freshman boys' basketball team at Monsignor Coyle, and continued with each subsequent stop in his journey. He coached the Watervliet Boys' Varsity Basketball team from 1969-1976, where he guided many players to successful high school basketball careers. In 1978 he was appointed Head Women's Basketball coach at Siena College, accumulating a 119-51 record in his tenure there until 1985, and earning him the best winning percentage of any program coach at the college. His 1981-82 team won the New York State AIAW Division II Championship defeating three of the top teams in the country. Joe was also an effective recruiter who, according to Steve Amedio writing in 2014 in the Troy Record, "brought in a number of the area’s top female players, including six who each accumulated more than 1,000 career points. For all of that he is arguably the most influential coach of any distaff program, either on the high school or college level, our area has ever seen." In addition, he coached six All-Americans or Academic All-Americans and had an impact on thousands of local youth and high school basketball players when he began the extremely successful Siena College Girls Basketball Camp, the first in the Capital District. His vision was groundbreaking. But for all the wins and losses, it was the connection to his players that Joe cherished most. In his induction speech to the Capital District Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014, Joe stated that he was "very fortunate to have taught such outstanding student athletes. To all those players, I am eternally grateful." Joe was also a member of the Watervliet High School Basketball Hall of Fame, the Siena College Basketball Hall of Fame, and, in 2010, he was inducted into the St. Edward’s University Golden Guard. Upon his retirement in 1991, Joe spent much of his time golfing at Pine Haven, cheering on his beloved Red Sox, and traveling with Jean to Hilton Head, South Carolina. After her death in 2006, he continued to travel, visiting Michael and Stephanie and their sons, Connor and Evan, in Florida. After rekindling an old friendship with Marcia (Casey) Sheldon, a former high school classmate, they fell in love and were married in 2008. Joe and Marcia traveled extensively, enjoying trips to Hilton Head, Las Vegas, Hawaii, Panama, and the Bahamas, to name just a few. Joe and Marcia also loved a good run to Atlantic City, Las Vegas, Turning Stone, and wherever else there was a casino. When you could catch them in town, they loved the Saratoga Racino, Saratoga Race Course, and, for Joe especially, a Boston Shake at Jim's Tastee Freeze in Delmar, NY. Joe is survived by his wife, Marcia Casey Sheldon Hogan, son, Michael (Stephanie) Hogan, grandsons Evan and Connor Hogan, stepson Michael (Diane) Sheldon, stepdaughters Bonnie (Steve) Gold, Karen (John) Bechdol, Linda (Brian) Stumbaugh, eighteen grandchildren, and fifteen great grand children. He is also survived by his sisters Patricia Rabl (Raymond) of Queensbury, New York, and Marguerite Hogan (the late Jack Ryan) of Albany, New York, two nieces, two great nieces, one great nephew, and by Kim Sheldon, who was a special friend to Joe. He is preceded in death by his wife Jean Hogan, of Albany, NY, his stepson Jim Sheldon, of Delmar, NY, and his parents, Michael J. and Joanna Polinsky Hogan of Albany, New York. Relatives and friends are invited to visit with Coach Hogan’s family Monday, December 18, 2023 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at McVeigh Funeral Home, 208 North Allen Street, Albany, NY 12206. Please enter the funeral home from the rear parking lot entrance only. Funeral services Tuesday, December 19, 2023 at 10:30 am at Historic Church of St. Mary on Capital Hill, 10 Lodge Street (Father James Lefebvre Way), Albany, NY 12207 where his Funeral Mass will be celebrated. The Rite of Committal will be held at Our Lady of Angels Cemetery, immediately following the Mass. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Joe's life. To leave a message for the family please visit www.McveighFuneralHome.com In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Brothers of Holy Cross, Saint Joseph's Retreat House, 495 Maple Lane, Valatie, NY 12184.

Tributes

Joseph M. Hogan

July 12, 1936 - December 13, 2023