Catholic father of 8 killed in a car accident

[lilwriter85]

This story was on my yahoo homepage and it caught my eye.

The yahoo article details how the father was killed in a car accident taking his wife to the hospital for the birth of their youngest child.

http://news.yahoo.com/father-killed-cra ... 22339.html

This article gives more details on the family

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/story/ ... /26070195/

Alison Dirr, Daily Herald Media

WAUSAU – The father of eight who was killed in a crash with a deer early Friday as he drove his wife to the hospital to deliver a baby boy focused his life on his children, his church and service to the greater good, friends said Monday.

"It's hard to think of a time when his kids weren't around him," said the Rev. Aaron Huberfeld of St. Mary's Oratory in Wausau, the church the family attends. "His kids looked up to him in every way. He was their hero."

Michael Rogan, 42, of the Stratford area, was killed early Friday in a crash on Highway 97 in the town of Cleveland when a deer that had been hit by another vehicle flew into the windshield of the van Rogan was driving. Rogan was seriously injured in the crash and later died of crash-related injuries at a hospital, according to the Marathon County Sheriff's Department.

Rogan's wife and seven children were in the van and he was driving his wife to the hospital to deliver the couple's eighth child, according to Dominic and Cecilia Gruetzmacher, also members of St. Mary's.

RELATED: About Friday's accident

The Gruetzmachers set up a GoFundMe account on Friday, asking for $5,000 to help Rogan's family. They raised the goal throughout the weekend as donations kept pouring in.

In the three days since Rogan was killed, about $160,000 has been raised for his wife and children, and organizers have raised their goal to $250,000.

"I never expected it to take off like this," Cecilia Gruetzmacher said Monday.

They said Rogan's wife homeschools the children, and they hope the money being raised will allow her to continue that. The Gruetzmachers said on the GoFundMe site that enough had been raised to cover funeral and medical expenses in addition to a new van for the family.

Dominic Gruetzmacher said Monday that Rogan had told another church member that he was excited for the birth of the couple's eighth child.

Rogan also was a former Marine, he said.

"He was very proud to have served his country," Dominic Gruetzmacher said. "I always looked at him as serving his family the same way — that fidelity, that dedication."

Huberfeld said that Rogan typically was at the church about three times a week. A member for at least 15 years, Rogan cooked every summer during a week-long camp for boys, participated in the church men's group and sang in the choir.

"At Mass I could always hear his strong bass voice from the choir loft," Huberfeld remembered.

His family, as always, was in attendance at Sunday's Mass and a baptism for their new baby boy was held afterward, as planned. Many members of the congregation stayed for the baptism and Huberfeld estimated that about 100 people gathered at a home on the outskirts of Wausau for the afternoon.

"It was a very teary morning," Huberfeld said.

Huberfeld received a call from Rogan's wife at 5 a.m. Friday and headed straight to the hospital where the family had been taken. He remembered seeing the tight-knit family together at the hospital, the younger children on the laps of their older siblings.

Rogan's family is doing "amazingly well," he said, given the circumstances.

Alison Dirr can be reached at 715-845-0658. Find her on Twitter as @AlisonDir

[Delilah]

How sad. I'm glad that people have donated enough money so the mom and kids can get by. Since he was such a devout Catholic, it would be nice if a local Catholic school would subsidize the tuition for the school age kids. Mom homeschools currently, but maybe she'd be open to parochial school if the offer were made.

[theologygeek]

If people have that many kids and agree that one parent is going to stay home, they really need to take out life insurance.

[lilwriter85]

If people have that many kids and agree that one parent is going to stay home, they really need to take out life insurance.

I agree. A few fundie bloggers have mentioned having life insurance policies. IIRC, Zsu mentioned having life insurance on the PP.

I'm amazed that over 200k was raised in a few days. It seems that their fellow parishoners have been donating quite a bit. Even though organized religion is flawed, it is still nice when church communities help out of one of their own. But the mother/wife might end up facing financial problems in the future. I think if she has a good head on her shoulders, she and the kids will be fine. If something happened to SuperCatholic Abigial's husband, I would worry for her because we know her history.

The below blog has been updating on the Rogan family.

badgercatholic.blogspot.com/

[feministxtian]

Ummm...if he was a reservist in the Marine Corps, he should have had the $400,000.00 SGLI life insurance policy. Mom and kids may also be eligible for social security and VA benefits. Someone from the USMC needs to meet with the family and go through what they are eligible for...

[2xx1xy1JD]

What a horrible tragedy. Money aside, these kids have lost a loving father and the wife has lost her partner. The youngest one's birthday will always be connected to his father's death. I'm glad they have a supportive community.

[ILoveJellybeans]

That is so sad :(

[Jana814]

Such a sad story.

[Jana814]

If people have that many kids and agree that one parent is going to stay home, they really need to take out life insurance.

Completely agree about the life insurance.

[Johanna25]

That's a great sum of money to raise so quickly. The Amy Foster fund seems to be stalling around $30K.

[nausicaa]

If people have that many kids and agree that one parent is going to stay home, they really need to take out life insurance.

And they need to take out a life insurance policy on both parents including the stay-at-home parent. Imagine the costs of daycare for all of those children.

[formergothardite]

That's a great sum of money to raise so quickly. The Amy Foster fund seems to be stalling around $30K.

This family doesn't have crazy Jill raising money for them. I'm sure that we are not the only people turned off by Jill's behavior.

This is a very sad story. I'm always terrified when I drive early in the morning or in the evening that a deer will leap out in front of my car.

[lilwriter85]

This family doesn't have crazy Jill raising money for them. I'm sure that we are not the only people turned off by Jill's behavior.

This is a very sad story. I'm always terrified when I drive early in the morning or in the evening that a deer will leap out in front of my car.

I also think Jill has turned off people outside of FJ from donating. I feel bad for the Foster family because if Amy is permanently disabled, they are going to need a lot more than 100k.

I think the family in this article, might be very likable in their community and parish and that could be why so much money has been raised in a few days. This story is getting national attention and that is probably a huge plus. Lately, similar stories which make national media outlets have helped people in need raise six figures. Good recent example is the widower father of quadruplets.

[louisa05]

The parish is a traditional rite church (Latin mass) and does not appear to have a school attached, so that is not an option. Not too mention that Catholic school tuition for eight kids for their entire education would far exceed the money they have raised now. Even the cheapest Catholic schools run around $2500 per year per child on the K-8 level and more for high school.

And the article never said he was a reservist Marine, merely that he was formerly a Marine.

[salex]

If people have that many kids and agree that one parent is going to stay home, they really need to take out life insurance.

My brother and his wife have 4 children and were dedicated to the idea of stay at home parenting til at least school age. They had life insurance etc on both the wage earner husband and the stay at home wife, so that he could stay home and / work from home if something happened to her. Now, the kids are older, she's working for a school district, etc, but I thought they were wise to insure both of them back then.....

[Idolatry]

If you want this lifestyle, clearly you need sufficient insurance. Seriously, who has 8 kids and no life insurance???

[louisa05]

If you want this lifestyle, clearly you need sufficient insurance. Seriously, who has 8 kids and no life insurance???

A friend of mine has seven. Dad is a teacher, mom home schools. She let her teaching license expire because she plans to never need to work again. The only life insurance on either is a small policy through his employer.

[DGayle]

I'm really curious about something. The kids have been homeschooled. Why the jump to hoping a private school will foot the bills? Why aren't public schools good enough?

[louisa05]

I'm really curious about something. The kids have been homeschooled. Why the jump to hoping a private school will foot the bills? Why aren't public schools good enough?

Maybe people are just assuming that a homeschooling mom would not be open to public school?

[Johanna25]

We had 8 kids in our family. Dad was an engineer, mom a teacher (good 1950's Catholics). Mom went back to teaching as soon as my youngest sister started school, and she babysat a couple extra kids at home for a few years before that. That's the only way they could support all us kids and send us to (state) college.

[anniebgood]

Maybe people are just assuming that a homeschooling mom would not be open to public school?

The schools in Wausau are good. Certainly much better than the district my kids went to here in CA. I grew up in that area and St Mary's used to have a school. It was front page news in the Wausau Paper and it was a tragedy.

I hope the family will be supported by their parish and the community at large.

[micatite]

I hope mom's childbirth was uneventful and healthy and that she has some kick-ass job skills under her belt, because she's going to need to get back into the job market pronto. You can't feed kids on 'buy used and save the difference'. Frankly, stay-at-home parenting and homeschooling are nice, but they're realistic options only for people with the money to support that kind of lifestyle.

[nausicaa]

I hope mom's childbirth was uneventful and healthy and that she has some kick-ass job skills under her belt, because she's going to need to get back into the job market pronto. You can't feed kids on 'buy used and save the difference'. Frankly, stay-at-home parenting and homeschooling are nice, but they're realistic options only for people with the money to support that kind of lifestyle.

In the pictures the mother looks to be about 40 (Update:a Google search with her maiden and married name turned up someone who very well may be her, and is listed as 37 years old). They married in 1998, and assuming she stopped working then (and the oldest child looks to be a young teen), she only worked until she was 22 or 23, so unfortunately it's doubtful she has many job skills, particularly to support a family of nine.

If you want this lifestyle, clearly you need sufficient insurance. Seriously, who has 8 kids and no life insurance???

Agreed. If any good can come out of this horrible, horrible story, it's to serve as a reminder to parents, particularly of large families, to get life insurance. Also, it looks as if he was self-employed, so I wonder what the health insurance situation is, especially for the injuries and hospital stays for the other family members.

{L_OFFTOPIC} :

Louisa05, is their church called an "oratory" because it is not recognized by the Vatican, and therefore cannot refer to itself as a "church"? I've never seen the term "oratory" used like that before.

[louisa05]

In the pictures the mother looks to be about 40 (Update:a Google search with her maiden and married name turned up someone who very well may be her, and is listed as 37 years old). They married in 1998, and assuming she stopped working then (and the oldest child looks to be a young teen), she only worked until she was 22 or 23, so unfortunately it's doubtful she has many job skills, particularly to support a family of nine.

Agreed. If any good can come out of this horrible, horrible story, it's to serve as a reminder to parents, particularly of large families, to get life insurance. Also, it looks as if he was self-employed, so I wonder what the health insurance situation is, especially for the injuries and hospital stays for the other family members.

{L_OFFTOPIC} :

Louisa05, is their church called an "oratory" because it is not recognized by the Vatican, and therefore cannot refer to itself as a "church"? I've never seen the term "oratory" used like that before.

The church's website indicates it exists with the permission of the local bishop, so it is legit. I don't really know what that designation means. Perhaps that it is not a regular neighborhood parish church?

Off to google.

ETA: Wiki confirms that an oratory is consecrated in the RCC as a space used for prayers and mass that is not a parish church.

A regular parish church is required to offer the post-Vatican II mass--the "ordinary form"--in the vernacular language. So churches that only offer Latin mass (the "extraordinary form") cannot function as parish churches under canon law. In general, parishes are assigned by neighborhoods/towns and most practicing Catholics are registered members of the nearest parish geographically.

[ksuheather]

There are some Catholic parishes that are sede vacant is (sp?) And aren't in communion with Rome. Also, SGLI only pays when the service member is killed on duty.