Carl Vogel dies after cancer fight

Former Sen. Carl Vogel, R-Jefferson City, listens during a 2010 presentation on the floor of the Missouri Senate. Vogel has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Former Sen. Carl Vogel, R-Jefferson City, listens during a 2010 presentation on the floor of the Missouri Senate. Vogel has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Jefferson City businessman Carl Vogel lost his battle with pancreatic cancer Thursday night, 5½ weeks after his 61st birthday.

He died at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, with his family at his bedside.

Born March 7, 1955, Vogel was diagnosed with the disease last year, just two days after his 60th birthday.

“I thought I had the flu,” he told the News Tribune during an interview in March 2015, just three weeks after receiving the diagnosis. “I was in bed for several days, thinking I had the flu — but none of the flu symptoms followed with my initial reaction.

“And, then I realized that I couldn’t get out of bed without holding on to something — and that’s when I went to the hospital, and they did blood work.”

In an email last July, Vogel said “LIFE is GOOD!” — after explaining he had just completed “8 of the baddest chemo treatments within a very aggressive time schedule.”

In November, he said in another email: “We (recently) had a wonderful family trip to San Francisco, (and now have) resumed chemotherapy. And my 14th round is next week, God willing. Life was Good today and will be Better tomorrow!”

Former Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, who now heads Kansas City’s Truman Medical Center operations, said Friday: “The way he handled his illness with grace and a positive attitude … always was amazing to me.”

Vogel graduated from Helias High School in 1973, then earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

He began full-time employment in the family business, the Jefferson City Coca-Cola Bottling Company, in 1978 and was named its president in 1983.

He was proud to be — and often talked about being — the fourth-generation family member to be employed by the company.

Vogel was active in numerous organizations, including the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce, serving as its board chairman in 1988; the Jefferson City Housing Authority from November 1989-October 1997; Lions Club; Rotary International; and the Jaycees.

He was a member of St. Joseph’s Cathedral and the Knights of Columbus.

Vogel won election to the Missouri House in 1990, serving the west side of Jefferson City and Cole County from 1991-2003, when he moved to the state Senate after winning the seat in the November 2002 election.

He represented Cole, Callaway, Moniteau, Morgan and Miller counties in the Senate from 2003-11, when term limits forced him to leave the Legislature.

Vogel’s survivors include his wife, Kimberly; son, Jacob; daughter, Kristen; and two sisters, Rose Teresa Mengwasser and Edith Grace Vogel.

Freeman Mortuary will publish Carl Vogel's complete obituary on Sunday in the News Tribune and NewsTribune.com. Also, a news story planned for Sunday will look at Vogel’s legacy to the community and the state.


Related article: Carl Vogel remembered as quiet but active, caring man