Joel Alfred Schoggen

Joel Alfred Schoggen, 87, passed away peacefully in Cedartown, Georgia on Saturday, November 2, 2024. Born in Savage, Mississippi, on August 30, 1937, he spent his younger years working on the family farm with his brother, Howard, and his parents, Homer Schoggen and Norma Hankins. He loved and revered his parents and was proud of his Mississippi heritage.

He loved baseball and broke his thumb trying to short-catch a batter. He graduated valedictorian of Arkabutla High School in Mississippi in 1954 and married Mary Berry in 1957. Together, they raised four children: Cheryl Lee Conkright (David), Joel Craig Schoggen (Jennie), Melody Ann Hailstone (Paul), and Mary Mignon Coley (Scott). They have been blessed with 12 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.

Joel worked at Northwest Junior College in Senatobia, Mississippi, teaching agricultural mechanics and welding. Later in life, Joel completed his Bachelor of Science degree at Western Illinois University in Agricultural Engineering and worked at Case tractor company as a service representative in Illinois, Kentucky, and Arkansas. The family moved to the Atlanta, Georgia area in 1986, where he worked with MARTA (Atlanta’s public transit) until his retirement in 2002.

Early in their marriage, he and Mary worked with youth, traveling throughout Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi. He served in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a branch president (ecclesiastical leader) in Sarah, Mississippi and a Bishop in both Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Smyrna, Georgia. After Joel retired, he and Mary served a year-long mission in San Bernardino, California, and then a few years later in the Southeast area. They both worked many years in the Atlanta Georgia Temple.

He was a natural mechanic and enjoyed fixing anything, especially if it had a motor. He could bring mechanical equipment back to life and found joy in working with tools, wires, or a soldering iron. His greatest pride was in his children and grandchildren as “Papaw” and was known to carry candy in his shirt pocket for the little ones.