Remembering Carroll Ogle
Cary, NC — It is with sadness that we report that Carroll Ogle, a lion of the Cary community, passed away on July 1, 2014. He was 86.
Bio: Carroll Ogle
Carroll Gordon Ogle was born in Knoxville, TN on April 23, 1928. He was a graduate of the University of Tennessee.
Professionally, Carroll was a commercial developer along with owning Ogle Enterprises and The Matthews House. Previously, Carroll owned Rush Media Systems (consulted/broker for broadcast properties), was a partner at McNight Ventures and at National Telecom.
In the community, Carroll Ogle was known as a founding member, past president and active voice in the Heart of Cary Association. In his time, he saw HoCA grow from a handful of members to almost 100 businesses and organizations advocating and organizing for Downtown Cary.
Carroll also cherished his membership at First United Methodist Church in Cary where he was instrumental in the redevelopment of their Methodist Men’s organization. In addition, he was Secretary of the North Carolina Methodist Conference and served on the Board of Directors for the Raleigh District.
Awards
Carroll never spoke about his own accomplishments and awards. But in a life well-lived, here are two recent tributes that meant a lot to him.
- United Methodist Men – Life Member Award at First Methodist Church Cary
- Heart of Cary Association – 2013 Ashworth Award for significant contributions to Downtown Cary
Two Passions: Sheila and Flying
Carroll Ogle had a quick wit and a keen power of observation, but he chose his words carefully, and sparingly. He might appear to be a quiet individual, but his many passions ran deep.
To all who knew Carroll, his chief passion was no mystery: it was his wife, Sheila Ogle.
Together, they shared a passion for historic restoration in Downtown Cary, redeveloping two of the most majestic properties in the district – The Pink House on Academy Street (properly called The Guess-Ogle House) and The Matthews House on West Chatham.
Lesser know was another of Carroll’s passions – flying. He loved to fly and had his pilot’s license for many years.
Tributes
We’ve collected a few tributes via email and social media. Please feel free to add your own in the comments to this story.
Shelli Dallacqua, office mate at Old Cary Commons, via Facebook:
Carroll Ogle taught me:
- It’s OK to belly laugh during your own wedding.
- Chivalry is not dead.
- Keep moving to get to your destination, even if you’re just shuffling along.
- Being a good spouse requires being a good person in your heart.
- Restored classic/muscle cars are worth taking time out of your day to admire and enjoy.
- Have a kind heart WITH a sharp mind regarding business.
Lauren Schafer, neighbor, via email:
Carroll was such a great man; I could tell you how he is the perfect gentlemen and pretended to like my cooking, or how we loved to talk gardening and about all of the animals that might be eating the church’s crops, or the important downtown issue of the moment that we’d spend hours discussing. But at the end of the day, I remember Carroll for being a wonderful friend, adoring Sheila and his family, and being a true servant of the Lord.
Gale Adcock, Cary Town Council, via email:
I never knew Carroll when he did not to have a smile and a kind word to share. He was a charming southern gentleman; well-mannered, well-dressed and well-spoken.
Don Frantz, Cary Town Council, via email:
The first one that comes to my mind is when Carroll and a few other long time Heart of Cary Association members approached me one day and said, “we had a meeting last night and we voted you the next President of the Heart of Cary Association.” It was the first time anyone had spoken to me about the position. You didn’t say “no” to Carroll. ;-)
Patty Briguglio, downtown business owner, via email:
I can’t tell you how many wonderful memories I have of Carroll. He was a fine man.
He loved Sheila so much, was so proud of her and so in love with her. I guess what I want to say is that I would always comment that “he would look at Sheila like she was an ice cream sundae”.
There was a group of us who were friends and all the women owned businesses, as Sheila and I did. We would go to events together and the women would leave the table and visit around the room networking. The men were left at the table to guard our food so that we could eat when the program started and not allow the waiters to take it away. Carroll called this group of men “HOBO’s” – husbands of business owners. His pride in Sheila and her accomplishments was so evident and he wanted her in the spotlight and was content to see her shine.
Additional Info
Funeral arrangements are with Brown-Wynne Funeral Home in Cary.
Service Information
Carroll Ogle Celebration of Life
Saturday, July 12, 2014
2:00p.m.
First United Methodist
117 South Academy Street
Cary, North Carolina 27511
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Thanks to all those who contributed pictures and text. Special thanks to Lauren Schafer for helping organize this story.
Please feel free to add your remembrances of Carroll Ogle in the comments to this story.
Bill Terry sent in this remembrance:
It has been my great pleasure to call myself a friend of Carroll Ogle for about ten years now.
We first came to know each other as members of the club of long-suffering, under-achieving husbands of successful women in the Raleigh business community.
In addition to having the good sense to marry women that are smarter and more capable that ourselves, we shared the experience of service in the U.S. Marine Corps, so we always had something in common to talk about.
What began as a business relationship between our wives eventually blossomed into a friendship that brought us together to break bread with other good friends from time to time over the past ten years. During that time we cemented our friendship on road trips to Charleston, Ashville and the Carolina outer banks to experience the best of the Carolinas.
I have lived in North Carolina long enough to know that the term “Southern Gentleman” is thrown around liberally and sometimes undeservedly, particularly when you use Carroll Ogle as the standard by which to measure one’s qualifications to merit that moniker.
Carroll Ogle was the model of a southern Christian gentleman who served well and faithfully his country, his community and his church, all with reverence, grace, humility and without fanfare. I am proud to call him my friend.
I will miss his gentle spirit and I will always remember him with great fondness.
Bill Terry, Major, USMC, Ret.
Mayor, Town of Pittsboro
Carroll was a friend to all and a crown jewel of the community. His contributions to Cary and its people are immense.
My favorite story of Carroll is when he and Sheila presented a program for the Friends of the Page-Walker about their major undertaking of restoring the iconic Guess-Ogle house on Academy Street. Many folks know it as the “pink house”, but Carroll told us differently:
“It’s not pink, it’s rosario!”
Carroll will be missed terribly. Sheila is in my thoughts and prayers.
The photograph of Carroll sitting on the porch of the Guess-Ogle House is a fitting one for me. We spent many hours just rocking and talking about our shared but separate experiences, from what we learned during our early days in the Marine Corps to the ‘old days’ of the Cary Downtown community, where it came from, where we wanted to see it go. But of all the memories about him running through my mind this one thing stands out among them: Carroll Ogle not only talked the talk, he walked the walk, too. Through the nearly four-decades I knew him, no matter the need, when called on for his guidance and help he never refused; whether in large ways by providing his counsel and support executing particularly difficult decisions, or many smaller ones like walking the street with neighbors, tongs in-hand, helping to beautify our Downtown. There is no doubt the loss of his presence in our community will be felt, but that he was here, and he was our friend is where my memories of Carroll will remain.
Carroll was family to me. Sheila is my sister-in-law’s sister. We have always loved Carroll and I remember very well when he and Sheila started dating. Over the years, me and my daughter, Jane, came to really think a lot of him and love his easy smile and personality. He was the ultimate Southern gentlemen and was always sharply dressed. Sheila knew how to dress the love of her life and Carroll appreciated Sheila’s great taste in everything. They were perfect for each other. A better match has never been made than the two of them. We will miss Carroll greatly, especially on family occasions. Always loved seeing him at Christmas particularly. He has left a big hole in the family and will be long remembered as a sweet,kind, and gentle man. RIP, Carroll.
I have only known Carroll for a couple of years as an employee of The Matthews House, but I’m the better for having known him. Quick-witted and sharp, he always made us smile when he walked in the door. From his sherbet colored sweaters, to his fondness for everything sweet, especially chocolate chip cookies, us bantering over the perfect pound cake recipe, to his warm heart and big hugs – Carroll Ogle will be missed dearly.
My condolences to the Ogle family.