Reinhold A Vogt

Aug. 15, 1910-July 4, 2012

SUN CITY, Ariz. – Reinhold Arthur Jochan Vogt, 101, of Sun City, Ariz., and formerly of Appleton, Wis., died July 4, 2012, in Sun City Health and Rehabilitation Center.

He was born Aug. 15, 1910, in Appleton, Wis., the eldest of Philipp and Ida (Heise) Vogt’s 11 children.

He married Agnes Wenzlaff on November 8, 1947 in Appleton, Wis., where they lived until moving to Sun City, Ariz., in 1977. She preceded him in death on Jan. 3, 1993.

Family and friends called him Reinie.

Reinie was a chemist and earned his bachelor’s degree at Lawrence University in 1932. He took specialized courses at the Institute of Paper Chemistry in Appleton after graduating. He developed many different paper production and paper coating processes during his career in Wisconsin paper mills, which began as a lab assistant for Consolidated Papers in Wisconsin Rapids in 1928 while he was in college. He eventually reached positions of mill manager and president for Combined Paper Mills at Combined Locks, Wis. He retired in 1977 as vice president for environmental control for the Appleton Papers Division of National Cash Register Co. After retirement he was involved in the Sun Cities Paper Group.

A commissioned Navy officer and a veteran of World War II, he participated in the D-Day landings and served in the Pacific. He left active-duty in late December 1945 but remained in the reserve until resigning his commission in 1951.

His civic involvement in Wisconsin included nearly two decades with Boy Scouts of America. He received the Silver Beaver Award in 1965. He also was a board member of the Kaukauna Municipal Hospital in the late 1960s and served more than two years as an Outagamie County board supervisor in the mid-1970s.

Retiring in 1977 and moving to Arizona gave Reinie and Agnes more time to devote to their pastimes and their family. His favorite hobbies were gardening, woodworking, photography and traveling.

The Vogts loved working with the soil. Reinie began hybridizing gladiolus in Appleton and was active in the Fox Valley Gladiolus Society, Wisconsin Gladiolus Society and North American Gladiolus Council, and held leadership positions, including president, in all three. He received the NAGC’s achievement award in 1991. Reinie belonged to the Sun City Ag Club. He earned his master gardener’s certificate in 1982.

Boxes of slides catalog Reinie and Agnes’s extensive travels, which included trips to the Holy Lands, Germany, Hawaii and Alaska along with destinations in the continental U.S.

Reinie’s faith was the foundation in his life and he was active in several congregations – Zion Lutheran Church in Appleton, Wis., Immanuel Lutheran Church in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Appleton, and American Lutheran Church of Sun City. Devotions were a part of his morning routine until his declining vision prevented it. Even after his sight failed, Reinie belted out entire hymns by heart during worship services. He often joked that he learned to sing strongly because his father was loud.

German was his first language and he was proud of his heritage, inspiring his granddaughters to learn and speak German too. As a freshman at Lawrence University, he had a minor part in the only German-language play ever presented there, “Minna von Barnhelm.” After Agnes died he went to Germany annually to visit his cousins and their families.

Survivors include his son, John (Patricia) Vogt of Mount Juliet, Tenn.; two granddaughters, Melissa Vogt of Garrett, Ind., and Samantha (Scott) Lamberth of Spring Hill, Tenn.; three great-grandsons, Matthew and Mark Lamberth of Spring Hill, Tenn., and Mahweensa Marks of Garrett, Ind.; a sister, Virginia “Ginny” McDermott of Delaware; and a large extended family.

He was preceeded in death by his wife, Agnes; his parents, Philipp and Ida; six brothers, Rudolf Vogt, Robert Vogt, Roland Vogt, Gerhard Vogt, Ralph Vogt and Philip Vogt; and three sisters, Adeline Vogt, Helen Peotter and Elsie Simon.

Memorial services to be held at American Lutheran Church of Sun City, Arizona Wednesday, August 1st at 2:00 pm. Interment services to be at Appleton Memorial Highland, Appleton, Wisconsin on July 28, 2012 at 10:30 am.

Memorials may be made to the Lloyd R. Wallace Endowment Fund c/o American Lutheran Church of Sun City, 17200 N. Del Webb Blvd., Sun City, AZ 85373, or Hospice of Arizona, 19820 N. 7th Ave. Suite 130, Phoenix, AZ 85027.