Robert WC Hogarty

August 20, 1935 – October 18, 2024

Bob Hogarty passed away unexpectedly on October 18, 2024. He will be deeply missed by his children, grandchildren and so many friends.

Bob was born in Boston, MA on August 20, 1935, graduated from Wellesley High School in Wellesley, MA and attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, where he made lifelong friends and met his wife of 50 years Nancy S. Hogarty (4.12.1938-10.6.2012). Together they had 5 children and lived in Wellesley, MA, Needham MA, Libertyville, IL, Brewster, MA and Englewood, FL. It is in Engelwood where, for over 20 years, he was known as “Dancing Bob.”

He is survived by his children Nancylyn Hogarty (Bob Carney), Greg Hogarty, Jill Hogarty, Sean Hogarty and Meaghan Detterman, and his grandchildren, Nikki Hogarty, Luke Davis, Hannah Davis, Blake Detterman (Ally Gorseth), Alicia Detterman, Andrea Detterman, Michelle Hogarty and Rachel Hogarty. “And…we love you.”

If you ever had the honor of meeting our Dad or sharing a glass of wine or a twirl on the dance floor, please indulge us with the telling of a story or two (Add a Memory link below).

He spent his 30 year career in the pet food industry. Early on he had a job which included the “fringe benefit” of his own “cat house” with 450 cats. As a pet food scientist he worked on many innovative projects. Of particular note, he led an innovation team that developed Kibbles n’ Bits, Pup-peroni and Snausages. In the years to follow, he greeted every pet he met with “Oh, yes. You’re so nice,” and a hearty head scratch.

Dancing Bob loved to share his love of wine and lobster. He first tried winemaking in 1976. It was terrible, so he turned his attention to collecting wines and shared his knowledge with family and friends in what came to be known as Wine Camp where you learned that the five most important words in wine are “you like what you like.” Among his many credits was having developed a formula for cooking really big lobsters (5lbs and up) so they turned out perfectly: “But, of course.” Everyone knew it couldn’t be done, so of course, he did it.

And we can’t forget his favorite pastime: listening to blues, attending blues and jazz festivals and dancing to his favorite bands. Maybe you had the chance to dance with him at Englewoods on Dearborn or Cassariano’s in Venice. We’d love to hear about it. No flowers or donations please. Just share stories. Dancing Bob loved a good story, especially if it involved him.

A celebration of life will be held at a future date, details posted here when available. We hope you will join us then to raise a glass and share one more hug and one more story about Dancing Bob.