| Sources |
- [S23] Atchley Funeral Home, (http://www.atchleyfuneralhome.com/), 13 Mar 2007.
Stella Ogle Reagan Dodgen obituary
- [S74] Atchley Funeral Home Records, Volume IV, 1987-1999, Larry D. Fox, (Smoky Mountain Historical Society), 27 Mar 1995.
Amos Marshall Eslinger obituary
- [S73] Rawlings Funeral Home, Book 2, 18 Apr 1956.
Infant son Eslinger obituary
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 14 Jul 2005.
Walters State honors Luther Ogle
By: STAN VOIT
Editor July 14, 2005
SEVIERVILLE - Jack Campbell remembers the first time he visited Gatlinburg's Luther Ogle seeking support for Walters State Community College.
It was about 27 years ago, and nobody from Sevier County was providing any direct financial support to the college or its foundation. The college didn't have a campus in the county then. Campbell, the college president, went to Ogle's Gatlinburg motel to ask for a donation.
"He said he'd think about it, that he had to talk it over with his board," Campbell recalled Tuesday. "By the time I got out to the car, he called me and said the board had a meeting and agreed to give me $10,000."
And thus began a long partnership between Ogle and the college, one that was strengthened Tuesday when Walters State named its administrative wing in Maples-Marshall Hall on the Sevier County campus after Ogle. The 89-year-old Gatlinburg businessman, whose health wouldn't allow him to attend the dedication ceremony, was represented by several family members.
"He's grateful to see his name on the wing," a son, Bud Ogle, said. "He's honored. He said he couldn't believe it. He didn't want anything like this. He didn't support the college for the recognition."
Ogle has served on the Walters State College Foundation board of trustees since 1985. He was instrumental in getting a branch of Walters State in Sevierville.
"He wants to see the campus expand," Bud Ogle said. "He says he hopes to be alive long enough to see it."
Campbell, in his last month as Walters State president, said he expects construction on two additional buildings in Sevierville to begin next year with a 2007 completion date. The $7 million project needs local support to become a reality. Walters State has about $2.5 million put aside. Local governments in Sevier County are considering financial support.
Campbell said the college is hiring architects to design the buildings so the project can be ready to bid as early as next spring.
Ogle started his first Gatlinburg business, a restaurant, in 1943. He opened a second restaurant two years later, and in 1950 bought his first motel, Twin Island. He has since acquired numerous businesses, including Gatlinburg shops and Ogle's Water Park in Pigeon Forge. Ogle also has helped finance schools and churches in Haiti, Russia and India.
"Mr. Ogle has been generous to many causes, but especially to Walters State, which has been so important to this community," said Gary Wade, of Sevierville, a state appeals court judge and president of the Walters State Foundation.
Ogle family members attending the dedication included son Bud Ogle and wife Cindy; son Michael Ogle and wife Sandy; and granddaughter Candace Ogle McKee. Luther Ogle and his wife Stella have been married for 59 years.
* svoit@themountainpress.com
Walters State honors Luther Ogle
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 25 Nov 2010.
Ogles’ commitment to Haiti lives on
Cindy Ogle delivers a bag of food to residents in a village near the Haiti-Dominican Republic border.
The Ogle name appears on only one building in Haiti: This orphanage in Port-au-Prince. Candace Ogle and her father Bud are pictured.
Among those on a May trip to Haiti were, seated, David Verble and Art Atchison; standing, Candace Ogle, Bud Ogle and Cindy Ogle. They are seated in a church built by the Ogle family.
By STAN VOIT
It started in 1975 when Luther “Coot” Ogle stopped in Haiti on a cruise of the Caribbean. He spent time touring the country and its capital, Port-au-Prince. And fell in love with the people.
Almost every year since then, the Gatlinburg resident made one or two trips to Haiti to get churches, orphanages and schools started. He would often take along family members, including his four children.
Luther Ogle died two years ago, but his mission in Haiti has not wavered. A country hit this year by an earthquake, flooding and a cholera outbreak really needs the help.
Operating through the Luther and Stella Ogle Foundation, the family spends at least $100,000 a year in Haiti supporting mission work, from churches to medical clinics to orphanages to schools. Often the church in Haiti is the home of the school and orphanage. A hospital the family built on a town at the Haiti-Dominican Republic border has served as many as 1,800 earthquake victims a day since the January tremor destroyed much of the country.
For Bud Ogle, one of Luther’s sons, the mission work is rewarding, gratifying, frustrating and neverending.
“It’s become a cause for us,” he said.
His father started the mission work because, Bud said, “he knew God had a plan for him to build churches, and he knew if he could build a church and a school together he could get the children educated and out of poverty. He thought that was the way to get them out of poverty. Building churches to him was doing the Lord’s work.”
Phil Ogle, Bud’s brother, is probably the family member most invested in Haiti. He makes five or six trips a year. He was the first family member to accompany Luther Ogle on a mission trip 30 years ago, and Phil was hooked.
“I feel like those people need our help,” he said. “We’ve established a lot of churches that we got up and going, and then turned over to individual churches. Then we go and establish another church.”
Phil Ogle figures the family and friends have established more than 100 churches in Haiti. Most include a school and feeding program. One such feeding program was serving food to 800 children a day. The meal was beans and rice, but for many their only meal of the day. And the kids only got the meal if they attended school — an incentive to get them that education the Ogles feel is so necessary to the future of Haiti.
The family works through friends they have made through the years. One friend is Pastor Jean Edmund, who has helped the family set up many of those churches. Bud Ogle said Edmund oversees 28 churches. He rounds up a pastor for each one and encourages villagers to attend.
Family members flew to Haiti two weeks after the January earthquake to see what they could do and to check on the buildings they helped to construct. A four-story church-school in Port-au-Prince was destroyed, and a principal killed in its collapse.
“It’s a sickening feeling,” Bud Ogle said. “That was the first school we built.” Two orphanages they are connected to were destroyed; one opened only a month earlier. The family has purchased land outside Port-au-Prince to build a new one.
In January, several family members flew into the Dominican Republican and then made their way to Haiti. The medical clinic they built in Jimani at the border had become a go-to place for people to be treated. An orphanage built but not yet occupied next door served as more hospital space. Doctors from Spain, Cuba and the United States, among other countries, came in to assist in the hospital.
Meanwhile Bud Ogle and others drove into Port-au-Prince. They found destruction and chaos. They caught up with Pastor Edmund three days later. He briefed them on how the family structures fared.
The Ogles stayed in two houses they rent year-round near the border hospital. Nurses and doctors shared the living quarters, which were about 60 miles from the capital.
Every time we go down there we see needs,” Phil Ogle said.
They ask people in the States to adopt or fund churches. Many Sunday School classes have done just that, sending money to Haiti to help keep maintain what the Ogles helped create.
In Haiti, a pastor makes $150 to $250 a month, depending upon the size of the church. A teacher is paid around $150 a month. Haiti has no public school system, so the schools they have are established mostly by private foundations and organizations.
Often when the Ogles travel to Haiti they take along doctors, nurses and friends. One of the people who made the trip in May was David Verble, president of Citizens National Bank.
“I wanted to go down there and see it,” Verble said. “Bud called and invited me. It’s an amazing thing to see what his family has done. The people have a great spirit.”
Verble was stunned at what he saw happen on Sundays, amid the chaos and devastation.
“The people dress up in their best clothes and go to church,” he said. “It was very inspiring.”
Luther Ogle stopped going to Haiti in the mid-1990s when the country’s political situation became unstable and travel unsafe. His last trip was in 2003.
Bud, Phil, Mike and sister Linda have kept the mission going, and now some of Luther Ogle’s grandchildren have gotten involved, Candace Ogle, daughter of Bud and Cindy, has made several trips and is compiling a video presentation to show to churches and others that might explain their work and encourage support of the efforts.
Cindy Ogle, the city manager in Gatlinburg, has made two trips, including one in May.
“It’s a tremendous blessing,” she said. “It sounds trite, but it’s true. It’s a hard trip, but such a blessing to be in a situation where you can participate and try to make a difference.”
Cindy Ogle admires the way her father-in-law was able to stay so focused on Haiti. He would be devastated to see what has happened to the country this year with natural disasters and the disease outbreak. However, Cindy Ogle still finds resiliency and faith in the people there.
“The Haitian people are truly some of the finest folks I’ve ever met,” she said. “They take pride in what they have, and they have very little. They have the resiliency and pride to continue to survive in conditions most of us might not be able to survive. They are an impressive people.”
One trip Ogle made was in May 2008, right after Luther Ogle died. They thought about canceling it, but felt he would have wanted them to go. A day after Luther Ogle was buried, family members headed to Haiti.
“It made the trip even more poignant, knowing how much he believed in that country and the people,” she said.
That year she took a photo of an orphan named Johnny, and she keeps that picture in her camera to look at from time to time.
Phil Ogle said the family has begun sponsoring pastor training programs in partnership with the Radio Bible Hour based in Newport. They bring in pastors for a day, feed them lunch and teach them how to better serve their churches and communities. They have been asked to expand that program into other communities, Phil Ogle said.
They also support remote medical teams that go into rural areas of Haiti to treat people. Many doctors from East Tennessee make those trips. Phil Ogle said the family has been able to get $3 million to $5 million worth of medicine donated to use to treat the Haitians.
The Ogles say Haiti will need help from outside for decades to come.
“I don’t ever see it changing in our lifetime,” Phil Ogle said. “The only way it can change is, of course, through the Lord, but also through education. Haiti is more like America was 150 years ago.”
One thing the Ogles discovered they can do to help villages is dig wells. Bud Ogle recalls a trip in the early 1980s when they saw women carrying buckets of water on their heads for miles to use in their homes. They paid to dig a well and that has saved long walking trips. They are responsible for many wells throughout the country.
Bud Ogle says the money the foundation and family spend is well-spent. They get regular reports on how it is used, and the bookkeepers at the family’s Gatlinburg businesses do the paperwork.
The Luther and Stella Ogle Foundation accepts donations, and people can designate what they money is used for. Bud Ogle said the foundation pays for many projects in the United States as well.
Donations can be sent to P.O. Box 648, Gatlinburg 37738.
n svoit@themountainpress.com
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 24 Sep 2012.
Upland Chronicles: Gatlinburg’s Luther ‘Coot’ Ogle a self-made man
by CARROLL McMAHAN
Luther Ogle was a young boy when he traveled by wagon with his older brothers to Knoxville to sell apples.
While hanging around the market, the Ogle brothers heard people calling a young boy Coot and thought it was hilarious. The older brothers began calling Luther by the unusual moniker and soon the entire Baskin’s Creek community was good-naturedly calling the young boy Coot.
Luther Ogle was known simply as Coot for the rest of his life.
Born April 19, 1916, he and his twin sister Stella were very young when their mother, Nancy Elizabeth Eslinger Ogle, passed away; leaving their father Preston Ogle with 12 children. In 1920, their father married Martha Reagan Eslinger, who had six children. The couple had two children together, making Preston Ogle the father of 14 and stepfather of six.
Coot Ogle left home when he was 12 and began making his own way. For 18 months, he worked on telephone lines, which were coming into the area, for a dollar a day.
Dropping out of school, Coot began working for the CCC when he was 16. In 1934 he went to work for Andy Huff at the Mountain View Hotel for 8 cents an hour. Determined to be successful, Coot saved practically every penny he earned.
Interestingly, he kept his check stubs from the Mountain View and the CCC which he proudly displayed in a frame to remind his children “what their daddy used to make.”
In 1942, together with his brother and sister-in-law, Russell and Louise Ogle, Coot purchased a business where Trentham’s Hardware Store was later located called the Beer Barn.
He sold the Beer Barn in 1945 and purchased a restaurant on the Parkway named A Sip and A Bite, later known as Ogle’s Café, which was located where the Hard Rock Café is now.
On Oct. 26, 1945, Coot married Stella Eslinger, who worked for him at the Beer Barn. Stella and Coot became parents of five children: Mike, Don, Brenda (Burchfield), Bud and Phil.
Following a disastrous flood in 1950, he purchased the Twin Islands Motel property from Moody Fox. While on a vacation in the western U.S., he observed the popularity of buffet-style eateries, returned to Gatlinburg and converted Ogle’s Café into Ogle’s Buffett Restaurant, the first buffet-style restaurant in Gatlinburg.
Later, he purchased the Crossroads Motel and built Ogle’s Water Park in Pigeon Forge.
Coot Ogle never forgot his roots. He often said, “The Lord has been good to me and I try to give something back. I gave my first $10,000 to a church. I always said I would and I did.” He never allowed his business to keep him from taking his family to church.
Throughout Sevier County, Coot donated money to small churches in need of assistance, providing money for conveniences such as in-door plumbing. Paraphrasing from the Book of James, he would sometimes say to clergymen, “You have not because you ask not.”
While dining at a restaurant in Haiti, Coot was approached by a man whose wife was sick; he had no money and no hope. The man was a minister preaching in a small shack.
Moved to tears, Coot financed the preacher’s ministry, providing him a better building to preach in and helping with other needs. He went on to launch over 20 churches, seven medical clinics, two orphanages and provided food to 8,500 hungry people a day.
His work took him to far-reaching parts of the globe such as India and the Soviet Union, where he assisted missionaries who provided Bibles for churches.
Involvement in his local community is just as impressive. He served on the board of directors of Harrison-Chilhowee (The King’s) Academy in Seymour, purchasing and donating a much needed building for the expansion of their Elementary Education Program.
He also served on the Walters State Community College Foundation Board of Trustees where he was a major contributor toward the establishment of the Sevierville campus. His support of fundraising efforts at Carson-Newman College was strong as well.
He stored furniture that had been used in his motels so he could distribute to folks who had lost their belongings in a fire.
His wife Stella remembers him as “a man who above all else loved the Lord.” She recalls the time when a heavy rainstorm quickly melted heavy amounts of accumulated snow in the Smokies. “Clell Ogle and Dr. Schilling came by and told him he better put up some sandbags or the Twin Islands might get washed away.”
“The Lord gave all this to me and if he wants it he can take it back,” replied Coot. “He had a deep love of God and a strong faith,” Stella added.
It was important to him that he instilled Christian values and work ethic in his children. He always required faithful church attendance and made them work in the family businesses. If they broke a dish while working in the restaurant, he made them pay for the breakage just like any other employee.
In recognition of his contributions toward the development of the tourism industry in Gatlinburg, he was the 2003 recipient of the Zeno Wall Jr. Tourism Award.
But Coot Ogle was never interested in receiving awards; he loved to give. For over a quarter of a century he contributed $100,000 annually to missions around the world.
For 62 years, his faithful wife, Stella, worked just as hard as he did. She worked in the businesses and raised their five children. She loves telling, “In all the years he owned a restaurant, he never fried an egg. But that’s all right because I fried enough for both of us.”
Luther “Coot” Ogle passed away on May 18, 2008, at age 92. He was truly a self-made man who never forgot his roots and exemplified the motto “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
— Carroll McMahan is the special projects facilitator for the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce. The Upland Chronicles series celebrates the heritage and past of Sevier County. If you have suggestions for topics or would like to submit a column, contact Carroll McMahan at 453-6411 or email to cmcmahan@scoc.org; or Ron Rader at 604-9161 or email to ron@ronraderproperties.com.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 22 Nov 2015.
Upland Chronicles: Hard work dominant theme in Huskey’s oral history
- [S112] Census, 1920.
name: Luther Ogle
residence: , Sevier, Tennessee
estimated birth year: 1916
age: 4
birthplace: Tennessee
relationship to head of household: Son
gender: Male
race: White
marital status: Single
father's birthplace: Tennessee
mother's birthplace: Tennessee
film number: 1821762
digital folder number: 4390948
image number: 00415
sheet number: 4
Household Gender Age Birthplace
self Preston C Ogle M 43y Tennessee
wife Nancy E Ogle F 42y Tennessee
son Walter L Ogle M 19y Tennessee
son Russell P Ogle M 14y Tennessee
son Homer B Ogle M 11y Tennessee
son Fred B Ogle M 9y Tennessee
son Cliford Ogle M 7y Tennessee
son Luther Ogle M 4y Tennessee
dau Stella M Ogle F 4y Tennessee
son Barnie Ogle M 0m Tennessee
- [S112] Census, 1930.
name: Luther Ogle
event: Census
event date: 1930
event place: District 05, Sevier, Tennessee
gender: Male
age: 13
marital status: Single
race: White
birthplace: Tennessee
estimated birth year: 1917
immigration year:
relationship to head of household: Son
father's birthplace: Tennessee
mother's birthplace: Tennessee
enumeration district number: 0006
family number: 217
sheet number and letter: 12A
line number: 21
nara publication: T626, roll 2271
film number: 2342005
digital folder number: 4547919
image number: 00696
Household Gender Age Birthplace
head Preston Ogle M 53 Tennessee
wife Martha Ogle F 38 Tennessee
son Luther Ogle M 13 Tennessee
son Barney Ogle M 10 Tennessee
daughter Truly Ogle F 9 Tennessee
daughter Buelah Ogle F 7 Tennessee
- [S112] Census, 1940.
name: Luther Ogle
titles & terms:
event: Census
event year: 1940
event place: Civil District 11, Sevier, Tennessee, United States
gender: Male
age: 23
marital status: Single
race (original):
race (standardized): White
relationship to head of household (original):
relationship to head of household (standardized): Lodger
birthplace: Tennessee
estimated birth year: 1917
residence in 1935: Same Place
enumeration district number: 78-16
family number: 44
sheet number and letter: 3A
line number: 7
nara publication number: T627
nara roll number: 3933
digital folder number: 005461375
image number: 00463
Household Gender Age Birthplace
head Homer L Bales M 41 Tennessee
wife Perle P Bales F 37 Tennessee
daughter Edith Bales F 20 Tennessee
son Rubin Bales M 13 Tennessee
son Russel Bales M 11 Tennessee
lodger Luther Ogle M 23 Tennessee
lodger Flora Williams F 21 Tennessee
lodger Lucile Williams F 5 Tennessee
- [S23] Atchley Funeral Home, (http://www.atchleyfuneralhome.com/), 18 May 2008.
Luther ''Coot'' Ogle
April 19, 1916 - May 18, 2008
Birthplace: Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Resided In: Gatlinburg Tennessee USA
Visitation: May 20, 2008
Service: May 20, 2008
Cemetery: Shiloh Cemetery, Pigeon Forge
Luther “Coot” Ogle, age 92 of Gatlinburg, passed over into the waiting arms of his Lord and Savior Sunday, May 18, 2008. Born April 19, 1916, he was a true pioneer, hard-working Christian man of humble beginnings with local roots that run deep. Mr. Ogle was a charter member of Roaring Fork Baptist Church and trustee and present member of Gumstand Baptist church. In 1942 he opened his first restaurant, and in 1945 he purchased his second restaurant, A Sip and A Bite, later known as Ogle’s café then Ogle’s Buffet. In 1950 he purchased Twin Islands Motel and later the Crossroads Inn and Ogle’s Water Park. Mr. Ogle’s community involvement has included serving on the Walter State Community College Foundation Board of Trustees where he was a major contributor toward the establishment of the Sevierville campus. He has also served on the Board of Directors of Harrison Chilhowee/The Kings Academy, purchasing and donating to the academy, a much needed building for expansion of their elementary Education Program. His participation in and support of fund-raising efforts for Carson-Newman College are also numerous. Giving away his first $10,000.00, a promise he had always made to his Lord, for a man from such humble beginnings, truly epitomizes “Blessed be the giver for they shall be rewarded.” His generosity has not been limited to the local community through his donations to area church building funds, but has extended to far reaching corners of the world to such needy places as Haiti, where he launched over twenty churches, seven medical clinics, two orphanages and fed multitudes of people.
Mr. Ogle was preceded in death by his parents, Preston and Elizabeth Ogle; brothers, Robert, Arlie, Walter, Russell, Homer, Fred, Clifford, and Barney; sisters, Julia Lucretta, Pearl, Trula, and Beulah.
Survivors:
Wife of 62 years:
Stella Eslinger Ogle
Children:
Mike and Sandy Ogle
Don Ogle
Brenda and Bob Burchfield
Bud and Cindy Ogle
Phil Ogle
Grandchildren:
Shawntal Ogle-Etherton
Kelly Ogle Goolsby
Michael Ogle, II
Candace Ogle
Mitchell Ogle
Veronica Ogle
Phillip Ogle, II
12 Great-Grandchildren
Several nieces and nephews
Funeral service 7 PM Tuesday in the West Chapel of Atchley Funeral Home with Rev. Ronnie Reagan and Rev. Melvin Carr officiating. Interment 10 AM Wednesday in Shiloh Cemetery. The family will receive friends 4-7 PM Tuesday at Atchley Funeral Home, Sevierville. (www.atchleyfuneralhome.com)
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