FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS
Michael Ogg: A leader you can bank on
BY SUZANNE LOUDAMY Staff writer

Michael Ogg

A well known face and name in Whitehouse is that of Michael Ogg. Most of the time you'll find him at Austin Bank looking out for the capital interests of his customers.

While he loves to chase the little white ball around the green, he tries to focus on your "green" at the bank, even on sunny days. Ogg has been focusing on the "green" of Whitehouse for almost 27 years. In this day and time of job-hopping, that's almost unheard of.

"I was born and raised in Houston and went to college at Houston Baptist University," Ogg said. "That makes it sound like I was raised in the city and I wasn't. We had several acres. We raised Shetland ponies and vegetables. Actually, it was a lot like Whitehouse."

College was where he met and fell in love with his beloved Bobbie.

"I was a senior and I decided she needed a mature man to take care of her," Ogg said. In June they will have been married 35 years.

Mrs. Ogg is the divisional director of nursing for Trinity Mother Frances Hospital. She has been there since the couple moved to Whitehouse. She stayed PRN (when necessary) at the hospital for a couple years while she started up the Health Occupation program in Whitehouse schools under then superintendent Marshall Neill.

The Ogg family soon grew to include daughter Stacie and son Michael. Proud products of the Whitehouse school system both have families of their own now and neither has moved very far away.

"Like many other families who come to Whitehouse, we settled here because of the schools," Ogg said. "The schools are the number one drawing card to this town."

Mr. Ogg is really a busy man. He tries to limit that busyness to activities that make him and others smile. He has certainly managed to do that with his favorite past time. He loves being a member of the Sharon Shrine clown unit.

"It's the most satisfying and fun thing I've ever done," Ogg said. He particularly enjoys being in make-up and costume and not being recognized.

His membership in the Shriners gives him a real sense of satisfaction. The work of the Shriners is very important and beneficial to so many across the country. It may look like a lot of fun and silliness to those watching a parade, but their fun pays off in a big way.

"It takes $2 million a day to keep the 12 Shrine hospitals across the country open," Ogg said. "The hospitals first opened to treat polio patients. With that cured, the focus of the hospitals turned to burns and orthopedics."

The Shrine hospitals accept no insurance or government assistance. And no patient will ever receive a bill.

That's no laughing matter, but cer tainly something to smile about.

Along with his clowning around, Ogg enjoys his band of brothers at the Henry Marsh Bell Masonic Lodge. He also has membership in Scottish Rite and is on the selection committee for Habitat for Humanity of East Texas.

The Oggs have made their church home Colonial Hills Baptist in Tyler.

Ogg's business life at Austin Bank has involved him in a great deal of planning and growth of Whitehouse. Whether he is serving the business community on the Greater Whitehouse Area Chamber of Commerce or serving a cup of coffee to a longtime customer at the bank, Mike Ogg is proud to be a part of this community.

"I'm not going anywhere," Ogg said. "Retirement will be good in East Texas. God couldn't have put me in a better spot."