Richard W. "Dick" Vogt

1934 - 2017

(News story)Richard W. "Dick" Vogt, a longtime telephone company executive known for his work ethic and charisma, died June 30 in South Port Square assisted living facility in Port Charlotte, Fla. He was 83.

He was diagnosed with brain cancer two weeks earlier, said his daughter, Elizabeth Smith.

Mr. Vogt worked his entire 35-year career at what was Ohio Bell and now operates as AT&T Ohio. As an executive, Mr. Vogt made a name for himself resolving conflicts between union leaders and management, his daughter said.

Later he worked as a lobbyist for the company in Washington D.C., where he struck up a lifelong friendship with John Kasich, then a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He permanently relocated to Port Charlotte in 2013.

Mr. Vogt knew great success in his professional pursuits. But above all, he was known for what his daughter called his "larger-than-life personality."

"Everybody loved him," Ms. Smith said. "He was very tough and firm but the life of the party. When he would enter the room, everybody just gravitated toward him."

Mr. Vogt was born on March 17, 1934 - St. Patrick's Day - in Tiffin, Ohio, to Charles Melvin Vogt, a Buick dealer, and Mabel Elizabeth Vogt, a stay-at-home mother.

Growing up in Tiffin, Mr. Vogt played football and basketball. But his chief title was troublemaker.

"His mother would say he was a real hellion," his daughter said. "He would tip over outhouses. I guess he was kind of a wild child."

It didn't take long for him to straighten out, though, she said. While attending Tiffin Columbian High School - he was a 1952 graduate - Mr. Vogt falsified his age to enlist in the U.S. Army at the outbreak of the Korean war. He was 17.

Although he was never deployed to Korea, Mr. Vogt served as a shooting instructor for three years.

After his time in the infantry, he attended Miami University of Ohio, graduating in 1957 with a degree in business administration.

He took his first job out of college at Ohio Bell, where he would spend the rest of his career, as its name changed to Ameritech and then AT&T.

Mr. Vogt suffered two severe strokes, the first in 1986, the second in 2010. Both times, he had to learn to walk again.

"He was such a tough cookie," his daughter said. "He would say, 'I'm going to do even more than they tell me to so I can get out of here even faster.' He was just a machine."

When he wasn't working, Mr. Vogt devoted himself to faith and golf.

Along with Gov. Kasich and others, he was a founding member of a biweekly Bible study in Columbus, which later became the subject of the governor's book Every Other Monday.

He spent the rest of his time on the golf course.

"He was a workaholic and a golfaholic," Ms. Smith said. "When he wasn't working, he was golfing. … He was married to golf when he was not in the office."

Mr. Vogt once had the chance to play on the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland, one of the world's oldest and most famous golf courses.

Next summer, Ms. Smith and her sister plan to visit the so-called "home of golf" to sneak onto the course and spread their father's ashes.

Mr. Vogt was known for his tenor voice. He sang solos at more than 100 weddings and would serenade entire pubs with the old Irish ballad Danny Boy on St. Patrick's Day, his birthday.

"Hearing him sing 'Danny Boy' was always a treat," said Bob Roach, one of Mr. Vogt's golf partners and a founding member of the bible study group. "He was just an all-around good fellow and had a tremendous faith."

Surviving are his wife, Dorothy Ann Vogt; daughters, Elizabeth Smith and Rachel Niswander; sister, Betsy Rueb, and two grandchildren.

Mr. Vogt's daughters will receive visitors from 1-2 p.m. July 22 at the Schoedinger Northwest Chapel in Columbus, followed by funeral services there at 2 p.m.

The family suggests tributes to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation or Miami University of Ohio.

This is a news story by Jacob Stern. Contact him at jstern@theblade.com or 419-724-6050.