William 'Al' Alfred Ogram, 90

William “Al” Alfred Ogram left us for eternity July 22, 2024. He was born to Annie and Alfred Ogram in Columbus, Ohio, on July 2, 1934. At the time of his birth, his father was employed as a Civil Engineer for the federal prison system. Shortly thereafter, his father was given the position of Prison Warden of the low-security federal penitentiary located in Tallahassee, Fla. The family (Al’s father, mother and two sisters, Shirley and Rosemary)  moved to Tallahassee and actually lived in the Warden’s house on the prison grounds. Al’s grandfather and the prison itself had very complete woodworking shops. While living there, Al learned and enjoyed the skills of woodworking and fine craftsmanship. It was during his senior year at Leon High School he entered a hand-carved model dream car that he had designed and built into a national high school competition called the Fisher Body Craftsman Guild. This was a competition for teenagers that ran from the 1930s through the 1960s, where participants designed and built scale model "dream" cars to compete for college scholarships. The program encouraged creativity and technical skills in automotive design among young people. Al ended up winning first place! This achievement rewarded him with a four-year college scholarship to the college of his choice. Two of his model cars are now housed in the Peterson Auto Museum in Los Angeles, Calif. 

Following high school, he enrolled in Georgia Tech University, located in Atlanta, Ga., to study electrical engineering. His scholarship covered most of his expenses, but not all. To earn some additional income during this time, he took on a part-time job at Peterson Funeral Home in Atlanta. This job provided him with a room at the mortuary during his time at Georgia Tech. It was during his time at college that he joined the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). This commitment ensured that he would be exempt from the draft until after his graduation. After graduation, he accepted employment with Sperry Gyroscope in Long Island, N.Y. However, the U.S. Army was now ready for him to serve his country. He served four years in the Army at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., and then on to the U.S. nuclear missile station in Zweibrucken, Germany. While serving in Huntsville, he discovered a new hobby of exploring the many caves (otherwise known as spelunking). He even joined the local spelunking club. 

While on base in Germany, he would meet his future wife of 65 years, First Lieutenant Margaret F. Crawford. Margaret was stationed at the U.S. Air Force station there. They were married in Zweibrucken. After his discharge from the U.S. Army, he returned to the States to start a family. He would accept a position out west with Sperry-Utah, which would move the family to Salt Lake City for a brief period. North American Aviation, located in Downey, Calif., sought his skills, and the family would move once again. At North American (Rockwell) he worked on the Apollo spacecraft and Space Shuttle programs in customer relations. One of his duties during the Space Shuttle program was to travel with scaled model displays throughout the U.S. and internationally. Some of these travels included: Tokyo Japan, Paris, France, Zurich, Switzerland and Montreal, Canada.

Al and Maggie Ogram were blessed with three children: Fred, Margo, and Martha. All three were involved in school, scouting and sports. Al even enrolled all three of the children in a junior rifle group located in Pasadena, Calif. It was there they learned marksmanship and competed. He enjoyed seeing them learn to shoot, and it reminded him of skills he once learned in the Army. The family all loved camping and would wear out three camping trailers from all of their adventures. The family's favorite camping spots were Sequoia and King Canyon in the California Sierra Mountains. During this period, Al volunteered to actively help The Flying Samaritans, a nonprofit organization that provided free health care and secondary education services to underserved populations in Baja California, Mexico. The family spent most weekends and vacations for three years working on this. He worked all day with locals and partied each night with them. 

After retirement, the Ograms moved to Hayden, Idaho. Both Al and Maggie were involved in the Welcomers, American Legion Post 143 in Post Falls, Post 154 in Rathdrum and ESGR. They were both members of the Color and Honor Guards for the American Legion Posts 143 and 154. Al enjoyed classical music and opera. He volunteered with both Opera Plus and the Friends of the Spokane Symphony. He enjoyed canoeing around Avondale Lake. They discovered the Spokane Parks and Recreation program and participated in all their kayaking and rafting events. They even rafted down the River of No Return.

Al is survived by his spouse, Margaret; son William “Fred” (Jadenn); daughters Margo McClure and Martha Sundara; grandchildren Andrew Soong, Matthew (Laci) Ogram, Christopher McClure, Kyle McClure, Erin Ogram and Allie Sundara; great-grandson Owen Ogram; and his surviving sister, Shirley Dykes.

A Catholic Mass will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, at St. Pius X Catholic Church, 625 Haycraft Ave., Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. A reception will immediately follow at St Pius X. The interment will be with full Military Honors at Coeur d’Alene Memorial Gardens, 7315 N. Government Way, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. 

Memorial donations in lieu of flowers may be made to American Legion Post 154 — Honor Guard, P.O. Box 332, Rathdrum, ID 83858.

Yates Funeral Home is entrusted with final arrangements. Please visit Al’s online memorial and sign his guestbook at www.yatesfuneralhomes.com.