Thomas "Red" Leo Hogan

Red Hogan – known only on legal documents as Thomas Leo Hogan – died Dec. 14, 2024, after an extended illness. Born in Oneida, NY, March 31, 1934, the fourth and only redhead of eight children, Red grew up – that is to say he grew older – in the small village of Cleveland, NY, on the north shore of Oneida Lake.

Red maintained his child-like embrace of the world and fierce pride in his Irish roots throughout his 90 years, darting from adventure to misadventure, gathering an encyclopedia of tales and knowledge, friends and, yes, foes (how else to be the hero of his own stories?). Where others balk in the face of new challenges, Red possessed a burning need to stay busy and earn his own way, and an outsized “I’ll try anything once!” attitude, which he turned into a portfolio of hard knocks.

As a kid, he contributed to the family coffers, delivering coal and newspapers, raking hay from roadsides to feed the family cow, shoveling snow, working at a soda fountain and in a local grocery store, and whatever odd jobs he could find that had a payday at the end. At 16, he could no longer ignore the lure of tug boats chugging across the vast lake and set out to ply the waters of the Erie Canal, Great Lakes, U.S. Inland Waterway, Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi River as a U.S. Merchant Marine.

He reveled in telling (and re-telling) about his first trip on the New York State Barge Canal: Sitting on a dock afterwards, counting and re-counting his pay – “more money than I’d ever seen before!” – he was told to report to another tug to cook for nine burly sailors. Whether through osmosis while watching his mother cook for a family of 10, or by dint of his florid imagination, he cooked for several years, magnanimously patting himself on the back for never poisoning anyone, staying well within budget and on his excellent culinary skills. He ultimately became an Able Seaman, working in various capacities aboard tugs, oilers, tankers, cargo and container ships. He especially loved the Canal, waxing poetic about the canning factories that processed the cherries, peaches, apples and plums grown in the area: “At night as we approached these towns with a little fog in the air I could almost tell which town we were passing from the smell of these different factories.”

For 12 years he racked up vivid memories and a lifetime of sea stories – some of which may even have been true. He also racked up unapologetic self-confidence, secured friends for life, and dabbled in more than a few side hustles, including importing alligator bags and shoes from Cuba. After one winter stopover in Tampa, Red traded watch caps and rubber boots for straw hats and flip flops, soon becoming part owner of Fred & Betty’s bar in South Tampa. His winning qualifications being that he knew the inside of every bar from Buffalo, NY, to the Hotel Nacional in Havana, Cuba, and from Gandy Boulevard to Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa (gratefully cutting back as age and responsibilities advanced).

With sailing and bartending catching up with him, Red switched gears in the early 1960s, flicked his last unfiltered Lucky Strike out a porthole and headed to California to learn hard-hat diving and underwater welding. Certification in hand, he returned to Tampa to open Hogan’s Quality Welding on South Dale Mabry, where he used his innate engineering mind to fabricate everything from motorcycle handlebars to spiral staircases, and from the moveable stage at Bartke’s Dinner Theater to privacy gates for Adeste Condominiums.

Red was never content with the status quo, never without a job, never unable to provide for his family, never able to sit still or keep his mouth shut, and never able to take a straight line when a double S-curve would do. He had a genius for turning everyday tasks into inscrutable processes. If he didn’t know how to do something, well, he did it anyway, asking experts for help, amassing more skills (and tools!), making more contacts and endearing himself to a diverse group of businesses and tradespeople, often borrowing skills from one to solve problems in another.

His eclectic career included a stint at Lang Pools (doing who-knows-what), starting a Mobile Home Anchoring Service when the State made a law requiring tie-downs, and opening a Mobile Auto Repair business. He later taught welding and earned his Florida Building Contractor license, specializing in waterfalls, fountains and wood decks.

Eventually drawing his marbles into the all-inclusive basket of Red Hogan Enterprises, he set up shop in Ybor City. There he began a 30-year morning ritual of café con leche and “conversations” at la Tropicana, where he fell in love with the history, culture and characters of Ybor, and where he forged more friendships, antagonized the locals and swapped lies with them all. He concluded his career(s) selling floating granite ball fountains (kugels), the largest of which earned a spot in the Guinness World Records book.

Red “retired” around 1999 to take up woodturning, tinkering with his Model A Fords, making the rounds of Ybor and West Tampa coffee shops, and further disturbing the natives.

Red saw no man as his inferior and absolutely NO ONE as his superior. He wove as easily among political, academic and C-suite elites as he did among bikers, plumbers and day laborers -- amusing, advising and provoking all with equal delight. He lived his life exactly as he wanted to, and no one who ever met him should wonder what he was like “off stage.” He was the same -- without regrets, without fear, without pretension, without that inner voice that says, “don’t say that” -- but with oversized enthusiasm, laughter, deep (sometimes baseless) convictions, affection for his adopted home of Tampa (especially Ybor City), and a deep, deep love of his family and friends.

Red was predeceased by his much-adored daughter, Kathleen Elizabeth; his parents, Thomas John and Mary Agnes (Wall) Hogan; sisters Mary Hogan, Nora Faust, and Katy Clark; brother Larry. He is survived by his wife, Ellen; daughter, Meghan (Steven) Tauber of Tampa; and auxiliary daughter Adria (Allen) Garret of Atlanta, GA; brother Michael of Camden, NY; sister Rose Perkins of Cazenovia, NY, and brother Francis (Laura) of Sammamish, WA; as well as a host of nieces, nephews and assorted ancillary family members.

Red’s family is profoundly grateful for the care and compassion of the staff at St. Joseph’s Hospital (Main) during his final days. If you are so inclined, in lieu of flowers, please make donations to WMNF, Metropolitan Ministries, the Humane Society or a charity of your choice.

Red’s family invites family and friends to a casual Farewell Party, Sunday, April 6, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Las Novedades Room within Hotel Haya, 1412 East 7th Avenue, Ybor City/Tampa. (Direct entrance at the Corner of 7th Avenue & 15th Street). Please RSVP NO LATER than March 23, 2025. Please email [email protected] to RSVP.