Robert Stuart Vogt
July 20, 1922-July 16, 2011
Pleasanton, California

The Rev. Robert Stuart Vogt, who guided Pleasanton Presbyterian Church for 29 years, died July 16 in Edmonds, Wash., at the age of 88. He was born July 20, 1922, in Sacramento and attended UC Berkeley, graduating in 1943 with majors in psychology, sociology and history. He attended Princeton Theological Seminary and received his Bachelor of Divinity Degree in 1946. He was ordained in May 1946 at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Sacramento and served at Calvary Presbyterian in San Francisco, First Presbyterian in Seattle, a new church development in Milwaukee, Ore., and Stone Church in San Jose, before moving to Pleasanton in 1958. The Rev. Vogt served in civic, nonprofit and spiritual groups, often taking controversial positions such as when he allowed farm workers led by Cesar Chavez to spend the night in the church's social hall while on a protest march, and during the Cold War leading a discussion about whether Christians can design and build nuclear weapons. He encouraged the school district to add sex education to its curriculum as well as urging members to engage in community affairs. When drug use became a key issue in the 1960s, he and the church elders founded a youth center staffed by professional counselors to reach out to teenagers. His community activities included twice serving on committees developing the city's General Plan adopted in 1965, and 18 years of involvement with the Red Cross, service on the county's committee on aging, and helping form Children's Theater Workshop and the Tri-Valley Community Foundation. An avid woodcarver, he hand-carved the pulpit for the new church on Mirador Drive. He also was the driving force in establishing the consortium of four churches that built the community's first very affordable elder housing complex, Pleasanton Gardens, on Kottinger Avenue. He also led the drive to establish a low-income project, Pleasanton Greens, on Vineyard Avenue. His 25 years of ministry were celebrated in a special week in 1983 with the Pleasanton City Council declaring it "RSV Week." His wife Sallee was an active partner in ministry. They were married for 53 years before she died in 2003. They had one son, Robert-John Stuart Vogt, who died in a drowning accident. After he retired to Willits, the Rev. Vogt served as an interim pastor at Old First Presbyterian Church in San Francisco. In 2004, the Rev. Vogt renewed his acquaintance with a former Princeton classmate, Virginia Redfield, whom he married and they moved to Edmonds. Wash. The Rev. Vogt is survived by his wife Virginia; his niece Mary Huntsberger/Sleeth Paananen and her husband, Terrance, of Seattle; and his sister, Dr. Jean Gahagan of Duarte. A memorial service celebrating his life and ministry will be held at 1 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 3, at First Presbyterian Church Livermore. Donations may be made to Princeton Theological Seminary, P.O. Box 821, Princeton, NJ 08542-0803.