Southlake resident, William F. (Bill) Hogarth left this Earth and walked to Heaven to be with the Lord Sunday, 9/1/24. Bill was an avid walker and poet who left us doing what he loved doing; enjoying his daily walks to commune with the Lord, enjoy His majestic splendor, and write about his many journeys. Three of Bill’s poems were included this year in the book “It is the Land that Gets Us…” an Anthology of Kern River Valley poetry and art, Presented by the Kern River Valley Art Association. Bill first moved to the Kern Valley in 1980, and married Aline “Rae” on 8/8/1980 on the banks of Tillie Creek in Wofford Heights. They settled in Kernville, and left the valley for a short period to live in Santa Maria and Murietta; eventually returning to our valley in 2022.
Bill’s appreciation for poetry and love of God was founded in his early years as a farm boy in New England. He would often regale us with stories of his youth working on the various farms that his father managed throughout New England. Bill left the farm life and joined his brother Howard in West Hollywood, CA in 1955. Bill lived all over the greater Santa Monica Bay area and San Gabriel Valley pursuing a career in retail management for Sears, Ralph’s, Walgreens, and the now defunct The Guild Drug. When he moved to the Kern River Valley, he parlayed his experience and worked for the James Store in Kernville and Southlake until he retired.
Bill was preceded in death by his parents, Robert and Evelyn of Apopka, FL, his first wife Lola Harriet nee Sanderson in Arcadia, CA, his brothers Robert (WY) and Howard (TX), and his daughter Micki of Arcadia, CA. He leaves behind a long list of survivors; his wife Rae, of Southlake, his brother Richard of Vine Grove, KY, son Stephen of Brewton, AL, his daughter Terry of Las Vegas, NV, his stepdaughters Carla of Kernville, CA, and Vickie of Murrieta, CA; numerous grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren. His was a life well lived.
William F. (Bill) Hogarth
