The following is a letter from John Hogan's daughter, Shannon Hogan, written on behalf of the Hogan family. John was a beloved member and former president of SHARE who passed away on Oct. 29, 2017. In the November issue of SHARE'd Intelligence, fellow SHARE members and friends paid tribute to his larger-than-life legacy. This letter expresses the Hogan family's gratitude for the kind words and stories shared, as well as a reflection on John's life and the impact he made.

To the members of SHARE,

I cannot express adequately the sense of pride and joy it gave me to read your beautiful tributes to my father, John Hogan. I have always known that my father was a great man and that he was a real character at your meetings, but to know how profoundly he affected so many people’s lives and how integral he was to your organization is something I had not fully grasped. And you have all done a wonderful job at expressing your memories of dad without the injection of his colorful language and choice words – no easy task!

The single most powerful aspect of my dad’s character I believe was his positivity. This manifested itself in his unconditional love for his children, grandchildren and his wife and in his relationships with colleagues and friends. Dad believed in helping and supporting people and I think he always got a real buzz out of seeing people he cared about succeed, whether that was his children, wider family, or his friends and colleagues.

He inspired me and my sisters to follow our passions and encouraged us to do what made us happy no matter what. As a result we have a physicist, a glaciologist and an archaeologist in the family - I’m sure you would have heard dad boast about his daughters! I don’t think we ever boasted about dad in the same way, perhaps we never had a real handle on what he did when he worked abroad or when he attended the SHARE meetings. I realise now that while we are extremely proud of and grateful for dad for working so hard to provide for us and being such a strong and honest role model, the greatest gift that dad has bestowed upon us is this positivity.

For me and my sisters, this positivity came in his unique sense of humour, which we have all in part inherited; his desire to support and help others, which we all try to do; our ability to love so openly and to forgive people; and for me perhaps the strongest message that dad has passed on to us is that while we are each different, we are and can be loved for the people we are and that we should never compromise ourselves or our integrity. He, above anyone else in my life, always told me that it’s OK to be me and he above anyone else gave me an understanding of unconditional love. Many or all of you can relate to this in some way I am sure.

So thank you from all the Hogan women for remembering dad as the wonderful human soul he was and the funny and sharing person you all spent time with. And remember, in dad’s words, if you ever encounter troublesome people in your life, “F**k ‘em. They’re probably a-holes anyway!”