A Brief Biographical Sketch of
William Brower Bogardus and his wife, Raymona Jean Guthrie (Dusseau) Bogardus
"Bill" was born in Torrington, CT, on 7 Apr 1929, the youngest of three children of DeWitt Brower Bogardus and Henrietta Elizabeth Burn. Sisters, Grace Dorene (b. 1921), widowed twice, is now the wife of Eugene Pierce and they reside in Prescott, AZ. - her former husbands were Nathan C. Kay and Evan "Rip" Bennett; and Helen Elizabeth (Betty) (b. 1924), the widow of Joseph Howard Lane, resides in La Habra, CA. Bill's parents were divorced when he was only five and he has few memories of his father until not long before his passing in 1967. As children, it was sometimes necessary for Bill and his sisters to live apart from their mother in Torrington because of the financial hardship Fwd by the divorce - his father having never provided support while he married twice again and lived fairly well. His mother moved to Rosemead, CA in 1946 where Bill graduated from El Monte Union High School that year. After working as a clerk in a clothing store for about two years, Bill joined the Air Force and served as a Communications Specialist for almost eight years, resigning as a Master Sergeant in 1956 to fill a Civil Service position in the same field of work. Not having had the opportunity to attend college, Bill always felt he had to prove his abilities by performing each duty assignment, whether military or civil service, better than his contemporaries. As a result, he was always recognized as a "doer" and not a "talker" and, generally "made things happen". He was frequently promoted ahead of his contemporaries and held progressively more difficult and responsible positions at all of his duty assignments in Goose Bay, Labrador; Travis AFB, CA; Elmendorf AFB, Alaska; Andrews AFB, MD, Scott AFB, IL, Ent AFB, CO; Washington, D.C. (with the Defense Communications Agency); and finally at Fort Huachuca, AZ where he was medically retired in 1983 as a GS-15. He was married to Iva I. Sims at Modesto, CA on 16 Dec 1951 and was transferred shortly thereafter to Alaska where two daughters were born at the Fort Richardson hospital in Anchorage- Karen Louise in Nov. 1952, who contracted polio there in 1953; and Linda Lorraine in Apr. 1954. Four additional children were born into this family: Tracy Allyn, in Dec. 1956, in Washington, D.C.; Mark William, in March 1960 at Belleville, IL; Dorene Elizabeth, in May 1965 at Falls Church, VA (who now has MS); and Lynette Arlene in July 1968 at Tucson, AZ. All children are now married and collectively have provided us with 20 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.
Bill's career was highlighted by his founding of the "U.S. Army Commercial Communications Office (USARCCO)" in 1975 at Fort Huachuca where he was promoted to become its civilian "Director", the position he held until his retirement in 1983. At the time of his retirement, his organization was responsible for providing commercial communications for all U.S. Army organizations, worldwide; for the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and, in some instances, for the President of the United States. The organization's annual budget at that time was nearly $200 million and was often called upon to "do more with less". Bill became known in the Department of Defense as the "father of leased communications" for his innovative management concepts and cost savings techniques. He was twice decorated by the Department of the Army for "Meritorious Civilian Service", the last in 1982, for being responsible for saving over $40 million as the founder and Director of USARCCO. Unfortunately, Bill's wife chose another path to follow after his retirement and relocation to Modesto, CA and after several reconciliation attempts, he began divorce proceedings in 1986 which were finalized in early 1987. Bill's interest in genealogy began in 1962 while he was then living in Springfield, VA and, as many now know, he began corresponding with hundreds of others about their mutual descent from Anneke JANS. On one occasion in 1981, Bill placed notices in about 25 newspapers around the country regarding his research and while Raymona was then visiting her cousin in Texas shortly after her first husband had passed away from cancer in January of that year, the newspaper notice in a Fort Worth paper was brought to her attention. She began writing Bill upon her return to Leesburg, OH and thus this was the beginning of a correspondence friendship - totally oriented towards their mutual descent from Anneke JANS - that later led to their meeting and marriage.
Raymona was born in Leesburg, OH on 26 Apr 1929, the third of four children of Hannibal Eugene Guthrie and Winona Ray Pfister. Her two brothers, James Lindley, (b. 1923), died in Apr. 1982 in a helicopter accident in the Gulf of Mexico - his wife was the former Donna Weaver and they had one daughter; and Sorency Orlando, (b. 1927), died in Oct. 1979 of a heart attack - his wife was the former Helen Kovacs and they had one daughter also. Raymona's only sister, Henryetta Susanna, (b. 1934), also resides in Wilmington and is the wife of Joseph J. Curtin. They have two daughters. Leesburg, OH has been the home of this line of the GUTHRIE family since the mid 1800s, the family having originally come from VA. Raymona graduated from Fairfield High School in Leesburg in 1947 and aspired to become a nurse but was first employed as a clerk typist at Clinton County AFB where she met her first husband, Richard A. Dusseau. He was a Sgt. in the Air Force at the time and it wasn't long before they were married on 4 Dec 1948. They had two sons, Jeffrey Eugene, (b. 1952) and Quentin David, (b. 1955). They and their wives collectively have 5 children. Richard, Raymona and Jeffrey (and later Quentin) served as Emergency Medical Technicians - Ambulance/Paramedics on their local Life Squads for varying periods of time - Raymona the longest for about 11 years. Richard was the Fire Chief of the Leesburg Volunteer Fire Department and had been employed as a civilian at Rickenbacker-AFB at Columbus, OH at the time of his death in 1981. Since her childhood, Raymona has been an active member of the Leesburg United Methodist Church where she held various church positions and was a choir member for over 40 years before moving to Wilmington after our marriage in 1987. Our membership is still in the Leesburg UMC although we primarily attend services and functions at the Wilmington UMC where Raymona is also a choir member. Richard and Raymona were "Worthy Matron and Worthy Patron" of the Leesburg Chapter 1157 of the Order of the Eastern Star in 1968 and 1970 and Raymona was "Grand Page" to the Deputy Grand Matron, District 1121, in 1971.
Both Bill and Raymona have attended the spiritual retreat called“Walk to Emmaus” and are members of the Wilmington Emmaus Community. Bill is a member of The Holland Society of New York, Friends of New Netherland, The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, The Genealogical Society of New Jersey; Raymona is a member of Dutchess County New York Genealogical Society and Ulster County Genealogical Society. Both are in reasonably good health and generously support a number of disaster relief shelter, children’s aid, medical research, Native American, veterans and religious organizations with the full tithe, and more, that is paid from all income and gifts received.
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Mr. William Bogardus
1211 Linhof Road
Wilmington, OH 45177-2917
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