Hugh Hogle`

Dr. Hugh Hollister Hogle M.D. F.A.C.E
1939-2016

“The whole earth is the tomb of heroic men, and their story is not graven only on the stone over their clay - but abides everywhere without visible symbol woven into the fabric of other men’s lives.” Pericles.

Our beloved son, brother, husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather, Hugh Hollister Hogle, passed away peacefully Thursday evening, February 25, surrounded by family and loved ones.  Hugh or “Holly” (as he was affectionately known) was born in Salt Lake City, April 6, 1939 to James E. and Bonnie S. Hogle.  Hugh was the second of four brothers to whom he remained close throughout his life.  He married Carol Bernstrom, the love of his life on January 8, 1960.

Hugh graduated from St Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire in 1958. After high school, he attended Oberlin College and the University of Utah, graduating in 1963.   He attended the University of Utah School of Medicine receiving his Doctorate of Medicine in 1967.  He completed a Surgery Internship at UCLA Harbor General Hospital, followed by a General Surgery Residency at the University of Utah.

During his medical career Hugh served many significant roles, working as an emergency room surgeon and a general surgeon, where he was the first doctor to successfully allograft a human pancreas.  He later specialized in diseases of the breast and pioneered many methods for post mastectomy reconstruction surgery.

Hugh taught at the University of Utah School of Medicine as an Associate Clinical Professor of Surgery and as a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Family Practice.  He served on the Board of Directors and as the Medical Director of the Reach to Recovery Program as well as other leadership positions in the Utah Chapter of the American Cancer Society.  Hugh was a member of many medical societies including The International Society for the Study of Diseases and Pathology of the Breast, International College of Surgeons, American Society of Abdominal Surgeons, Southwest Surgical Congress and the American Medical Association.  He was the chairman of the Department of Surgery at Holy Cross Hospital and founder and Medical Director of the Holy Cross Hospital Breast Care Center, later becoming the Medical Director of the Women’s Center at St. Marks Hospital Breast Care services.  In 1992 Hugh was appointed Vice President of the National Consortium of Breast Care Centers.  He was honored by The Susan G. Komen Foundation as an Honorable Supporter of Breast Cancer Awareness. In 1991 Vice President Dan Quail, in a personal declaration, formally recognized his efforts in the fight against breast cancer.  Hugh authored several articles in medical journals, and along with a few of his patients he published a book entitled Our Gift of Love , which served to guide women through the treatment of breast cancer.  He appeared on many local and national television programs as an expert on breast cancer.

Hugh’s competence as a surgeon was well recognized and awarded by his peers, but it was his deep intrinsic love of fellow humans that drove his relentless pursuit of improving the care and outcomes for his patients.  This dedication evoked much love and gratitude from patients and their families.

In addition to his medical practice, Hugh had many business interests throughout his life.  He was awarded many patents for both medical devices, as well as fishing and hunting equipment.  He was cofounder and owner of Anglers’ Inn fishing tackle stores.  In 1971 he wrote and helped produce a major motion picture called “Toklat”, which featured A-List Hollywood stars and was released nationally.

Hugh was an accomplished wildlife and landscape photographer.  His photos have appeared in many national magazines including Outdoor Life, Bugle, Trophy Hunter, and State wildlife publications as well as many outdoor related books and websites.  His love of photography kept him busy later in life and he spent time in Africa and the South Pacific shooting pictures.  Hugh had an eye for texture and composition and saw the world in great detail.  He also had a gift of capturing wildlife in ways not commonly seen.

Another passion that drove Hugh was his love of wildlife, wild places, and the friends with whom he spent a lifetime sharing the woods and waters. He was an avid hunter, fisherman and wildlife enthusiast, was an outstanding shot with a rifle, and bow, and could cast a fly rod beautifully.  Hugh holds more archery record book trophies than any other hunter in Utah history. He was an artist with a duck call and spent countless days at Newstate Duck Club  with one of his outstanding Black Labs.  It was noted by a close friend “Hugh never had an average dog, which serves as a testament to his character as a human being.”  Hugh’s church was the Great Outdoors, as this is where he felt closest to God.  It was in nature that he forged his deepest friendships, and where he taught life lessons to his children.  It was in the pursuit of fish and game that Hugh developed his deep spirituality and his great love of life.

Hugh’s love of wildlife and the outdoors motivated a lifetime of service to wildlife conservation. Governor Bangerter appointed Hugh to the Utah Wildlife Board where he served as Chairman until 1989.  In 1994, President Bill Clinton appointed Hugh to serve on the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission to oversee the wise use of public funds for habitat protection.  Hugh was an early supporter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) and he was appointed to the national board of directors where he spent many years protecting habitat for elk.  He was active in the Utah Chapters of Ducks Unlimited, The Pope and Young Club, and many other conservation groups.  He served on many other Board of Directors including the Tracy Aviary, The Wetland Foundation of Utah, and the International Big Game Fishing Club of Utah, and was Co-chairman of The Utah Roundtable of Sportsmen and Conservation Organizations.

Hugh’s commitment to wildlife has been honored with many awards including, The Lifetime Service to Conservation award from the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep (Utah), and The Anasazi Award from The Utah Bowman’s Association. The National Wildlife Federation named him the Utah Conservationist of the Year.   He was recognized as The Founding Father of the Utah RMEF as well as receiving The Wallace Fennell Pate Wildlife Conservation Award from The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

Hugh’s passion and drive to hunt and fish would serve to motivate him to overcome overwhelming adversity because Hugh’s life was bifurcated into two distinct episodes.  In 1995, at the age of 55, he suffered a severe stroke while fishing deep in the Brazilian Amazon.  So massive was the damage that everything in Hugh’s life was irrevocably changed.  Gone was his ability to read and speak, lost was the use of his right arm and his right leg was so compromised, the doctors said he would never walk.  Thus in a flash he lost the ability to do much of what he loved most.  The great orator was silenced; the scalpel retired, and the skill to save lives lost.

With great courage, Hugh forged a new life with a focus not on what had been lost but rather on what he still had.  He learned how to cast a fishing rod one handed and usually out-fished everyone in the boat. Having retired the rifle years before and refusing to go back, he learned to shoot his bow by pulling it with his teeth to the demise of many deer, antelope and even a bear. While he never regained his speech or full use of his limbs, Hugh did regain a quality of life that was rich albeit different than before.  His family cherished the 21 years we had with him post stroke.  He did not do it alone and we are forever grateful to the amazing friends, both new and old, who helped him along his path.  Hugh had a gift of finding or attracting good people to him wherever he went.  He was so thankful to all of those “nicest people” who took him in and enriched his life in so many ways.

The legacy of the life of Hugh Hollister Hogle is a living one. It can be viewed in the human lives he made better, it can be heard in the bugle of a bull elk or the whistling wings of pintail ducks high overhead, it can be felt in the memories of those who knew and loved him, for “It is in giving that we receive and in loving that we are loved.”

Hugh, we are so proud of you and eternally grateful to have shared your exceptional life. Your generosity, kindness, honor, honesty and gratitude serve as an example to all of us and we will strive to treat others in a manor befitting of your legacy.  “The shadows lengthen, the busy world is hushed, the fever of life is over and your work is done. Rest now loyal son of Utah, well done, well done indeed. “HHH” ‘93

“God be with us till we meet again.”

Hugh is preceded in death by his mother Bonnie, father James, brother Huck, and daughter Lisa Hogle.  He is survived by his wife Carol Bernstrom, children: Holly Hogle DeSantis (Dave), Carey Hogle Roberts (Dave), Erin Hogle Taylor (Rocky), Matthew G. Hogle, Patrick G. Hogle (Brooke), 16 grandchildren, 20 great grandchildren. He is also survived by his two brothers, James E. (Theda) and Owen C. (Sheri) Hogle.

A celebration of his life is being planned for a date and location yet to be determined. If you would like to attend, please email us at HHHCelebration@gmail.com and we will update you with the location and time of this event.

In lieu of flowers please consider making a donation to Utah’s Hogle Zoo in Hugh’s name, Hogle Zoo, attn. Development Department, 2600 Sunnyside Avenue, Salt Lake City, UT  84108, 801-584-1700 or www.hoglezoo.org.