Obituary: Hogue, Clifford Blaine

HOGUE,
Clifford

Clifford Blaine Hogue died peacefully during the evening of February 17 at the age of 85.

Cliff was born March 9, 1926, into a family of nine children.

The family moved shortly after his birth to Naples, ID, where he spent the bulk of his childhood in and around Bonners Ferry.

He joined the U.S. Army in his early teenage years at the height of WWII and saw combat in France, Holland and Germany during this time.

He sometimes reflected back on those years saying he was just a frightened kid unprepared in life to actually be in the middle of a real war.

In 1951, he married Marjorie Schauer with whom he later had one son, Kevin, born in 1960.

They divorced in the 1980’s, but remained close later in life.

Cliff spent the early years in Spokane as a cement finisher with several of his brothers and nephews.

He later became employed as a trade instructor at the Job Corp Center in Moses Lake for this profession.

Cliff married and divorced one more time during these years.

He retired from this position in the early 1990’s, and returned to Spokane.

Cliff enjoyed traveling and visited Germany, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Thailand, Mexico and Costa Rica during his sixties.

Several winters were spent in Arizona with a close friend playing golf.

An avid reader, he often had walls of books including Reader’s Digests in any home he lived in.

He also adopted gardening as a hobby later in his life, as well as handyman projects and driving trips to the Redwoods.

As his son, I know how much my dad loved me and helped me throughout my life and value getting closer to him in the last ten years of his life, since returning to Spokane.

I will miss my cell phone lighting up saying ‘Dad’.
Cliff is survived by his younger brother, Howard, of Long Island, NY, and his son Kevin, of Spokane, as well as nieces and nephews in the immediate area.

His caretaker the last months of his life was Gina Hogue, who invited him into her and nephew Sid Hogue’s home and gave him much love and attention.

Cremation was performed by Neptune Society, as Cliff requested no service be held in his honor.

A later memorial however is being planned for summer.