Family, friends gather to celebrate life of Harvey Hogarth

Life-long Cochrane resident Harvey Hogarth passed away shortly after Christmas, but the celebration of his life had to be delayed due to the pandemic.

The delay didn't discourage a huge gathering of family and friends to pause and swap fond memories. The Texas Gate Bar and Grill, a place Harvey affectionately called his "Office," was filled on Aug. 8.

His son Harvey III, better known as Chub, says having so many people attend helped the family find closure, and it was held exactly where his dad would have wanted it.

"It makes me feel good that this many people came out to pay respects to him," says Chub. "This is what he called his office, so he'd loved that people came to his office instead of a church."

Harvey was born in Cochrane on August 8, 1936, lived his whole life here, and was very much part of the fabric of the community.

He owned and operated Hogarth Transport after his father passed away. It was originally a milk run for the many dairy farms in the area at the time. Harv turned it into a freight service that served the Cochrane area for 50 years.

Harv was passionate about sports. He was an exceptional junior hockey player before his career was sidelined by an eye injury. He continued to play many sports and coached. In his time, he both curled an eight-ender and had a hole-in-one.

One of his crowning community achievements was spearheading the development of the north diamond at the Lions Rodeo Grounds. A group of volunteers constructed the diamond and maintained it for many years.

"It was all volunteer welders who built the backstop, and we use to have a wood fence with steel posts with advertising on it."

"They did it all on their own and we took care of it, and dragged it, and limed it before games."

The north diamond was the home field for the Cochrane Cougars fastball team that played in a league with other nearby farming communities, including Cremona, Garfield, Westcott, and Olds.

Harvey was 84 years old when he was taken by cancer on Dec. 29, 2020.