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Former Ashland Minister Dies in Maysville

Dr. Carl E. Vogel, 65, former pastor of the First Methodist Church here, died yesterday afternoon in the Hayswood Hospital at Maysville, Ky., following an extended illness.

Dr. Vogel was pastor of the local church from 1936 until 1941. He had held pastorates in the Kentucky Conference and the Louisville Conference and the Louisville Conference and was president of the Frankfort District for six years. At one time he served as dean of Union College at Barbourville, Ky.

He had been pastor of Trinity Methodist Church at Maysville for the past two years.

Funeral services will be conducted tomorrow at 11 a.m. at the Trinity Methodist Church at Maysville with Bishop William T. Watkins of Louisville officiating. Burial will be in the Cave Hill Cemetery at Louisville with graveside services to be conducted by Dr. Leggett, pastor of the Trinity Temple Methodist Church in Louisville.

Survivors include the wife, Mrs. Minnie Vogel; one son, Karl Vogel, of Chicago; and one granddaughter, Miss Virginia Kay Vogel, of Ashland.

It was Dr. Vogel's request that friends omit flowers and instead asked that contributions be made to the Trinity Methodist Church Building Fund.¹⁰

CARL EDWARD VOGEL

On Wednesday, 3:00 p.m., August 7, 1957, this Kentucky Annual Conference lost a valiant leader, an irreplaceable builder of the Church in Kentucky. My friend, your friend, a good minister of Jesus Christ, Dr. Carl E. Vogel, will not answer roll call at this Conference session. He has left us and his going brings not only grief to his family and friends, but such serious loss in the ranks of the ministry of this Conference that the thoughtful leaders of this Conference are stunned and perplexed with the problem of carrying on without him.

Carl Edward Vogel was born February 21, 1891, at Cold Springs, Kentucky, the youngest of a family of thirteen children. He graduated from Campbell County High School. In order to attend college, he carried the rural mail for some three years and saved his earnings for college expenses. He graduated from Berea College with distinction and in 1950 he was honored with the Doctor of Divinity degree at Union College.

Dr. Vogel was admitted into membership of the Kentucky Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1919, and served effectively many churches of the Conference. His entire ministry was in Kentucky. He was pastor at Corbin, Berea, Harlan, First Church in Ashland, Trinity Temple in Louisville, Fort Thomas, Pikeville and Maysville. He was District Superintendent of the Barbourville District in his earlier ministry and recently was District Superintendent of the Frankfort District. For a brief period he was Acting Dean of Union College. He was a most devoted Trustee of Union College for many years. During all his pastorates, Dr. Vogel was a community man. The entire life of every city or community where he served felt the lift and power of his leadership for righteousness. Today all Kentuckians are proud of Cumberland State Park which enshrines beautiful Cumberland Falls—a scenic center of Southeastern Kentucky and enjoyed by all Kentuckians as well as by thousands of tourists from many states each year. But Dr. Carl E. Vogel was the moving spirit that fought for the creation of Cumberland State Park while he served as President of the Cumberland Falls Preservation Association. He was also a friend of Boy Scouts, and his outstanding service in scouting earned for him the Silver Beaver award presented to him by the National Council of Boy Scouts of America in 1933. This is the highest honor that can come to an adult Volunteer Scout leader. In Rotary and Kiwanis he was always a civic leader and was known and beloved community-wide wherever he served.

An adequate appraisal of the life and work of Carl Edward Vogel is not easy. He was a man of many marked qualities, but all his talents were organize completely around his one passion—to lead men and women to God. His own spiritual girth made him a master in the skill of spiritual guidance and evangelistic power. He was not simply a preacher but a revivalist of the first order. People loved him because he never grew weary in helping people. Self-denial to help people was the mold in which he was cast. This was the chief joy of his life and he never tired in utmost efforts to help his fellowmen to find Christ in their personal experience. At all hours and at any personal inconvenience he was available to counsel and assist any in trouble and to guide any confused and frustrated in mind or heart. The warmth of his brotherly spirit made other lives glow in hope and faith.

Brother Vogel was a man of definite and intense convictions. He did not parade his convictions but neither did he apologize for them. He was utterly unafraid when it came to declaring his convictions, or taking an uncompromising stand in loyalty to Christian principle as he saw it. In his early ministry, he was inclined to be offensively dogmatic in his declaration of convictions and made enemies at times. But in his later years, he was sweet-spirited in his firmness of convictions, and those in disagreement held him in high esteem.

Again Brother Vogel was a dedicated man. Putting his hand to the plow, he never looked back. He possessed resources of dedication to a cause that seemed almost inexhaustable. He would never surrender or waver in his loyalty. This loyalty to a commitment was a thing of supreme concern to him and he was a stranger to retreat. Whenever this man settled a course of action or an attitude as right, there was no compromise.

Another mark that distinguished Carl Vogel was his enthusiasm. From his private conversation to his public utterances, he was always bubbling over with enthusiasm. There was a whole-heartedness in his living as well as his preaching that made him ever fresh and interesting to all who came under his attention. He impressed all as having within him a spring of living water-that flowed ceaselessly in a refreshing stream. This gave a contagion to his personality that explains his winsomeness with people everywhere.

I hope I may be excused for a personal testimony in my experience with this man of such rare spirit. During his long tenure as Trustee of Union College, I worked closely with Dr. Vogel. He was never absent from a Board meeting except last May when his health made attendance impossible. Never have I witnessed such devotion and loyalty as he had for Union College. For many years he was minute secretary of the Board and worked with full abandon for the promotion and welfare of the College. During these years of his trusteeship, Dr. Vogel was a great builder of this institutioin and I learned to lean on him in many critical situations for skilled leadership, sound wisdom, and plenty of hard work. His replacement in this post will be hard to find, and for years to come Union College will suffer a severe loss in his absence.

Our deep sympathy and prayers go out to the stricken widow, Mrs. Minnie Vogel, the son, Karl E. Voge1, Jr., and the two sisters, Mrs. Katie E. Puff, and Mrs. L. B. Pendery, and a brother, Jacob F. Vogel. Thousands of friends share with the family the painful experience of the loss of this great man of God from their fellowship and from the leadership of the Church he loved and in whose service he gave his all. The memory of Carl Edward Vogel will bring strength and inspiration for finer living and richer service to all who were fortunate in knowing him.

CONWAY BOATMAN.³