Page 26 - Clay County: Communities, Families, & Friends 2024

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Below are comments from those who remember her from
grade school to adulthood when she visited Green Cove
Springs.
Lucille Johnson DeVeaux
Retired School Teacher
I always bugged Coach Hogans about his claim that Patti was
his sister. I would ask him, “How can she be your sister?” One
day, when I was a high school student, when she came to town
because of a concert in Jacksonville, he brought her over to
meet our family. He was taking her around to various places.
I just stood still in time surprised!! She was very soft-spoken
and appeared to be a little shy. She came in and stepped on
the rug at the entrance of the door. I was in awe because it
felt unreal. I remember the rug that she walked on. I could see
their resemblance. At Coach’s funeral, she sang a medley of
songs. She did not want to be in the limelight. She honored the
sanctity of his homegoing service and explained that it was not
about her but her brother, “Tommy.”
Ken Francis
Retired Educational Administrator, City Employee, and
Community Advocate
I last spoke to Patti LaBelle when she attended her brother’s
funeral and we talked. We talked and she supported the idea
to name the Dunbar High School gym for her brother, Thomas
Hogan, Jr. When it happened, she was so appreciative. At the
time that this was done, then City Manager Don Bowles, a
brother of Hon. John Bowles, was one of his students and
former player at Clay High School. Patti always invited people
to acquire tickets for her concerts. She did the same thing in
a Jacksonville concert when she recognized members of the
Hogans family.
Dr. Larry T. Richardson
Retired Psychologist (Sole Practitioner)
I met her a few times when she visited Green Cove Springs
every summer during the late 1950s. She came from the
northeast on a train and her grandfather, Mr. Dave Robinson,
would pick her up from the train stop. Dave and Ellen
Robinson lived next door to my grandmother Clara Patterson.
Once the word was out that she had arrived, the young people
came, and lined up to get her autograph. It was funny because
she had a cousin who charged people a dime for that privilege.
Patty was a lifelong friend to my first cousin Loretta Kenty.
Every time Patty came to Green Cove Springs or anywhere
in Florida, she would notify Loretta and a couple of her
other friends, and they received tickets to attend her concerts.
Initially, that was when the group was called Patti LaBelle and
the Blue Bells. She was a big celebrity. Coach Hogans, her half-
brother, was my football and basketball coach, and he taught
health and physical education at Dunbar High School.
Rev. Wilbert Bradley
Senior Associate Pastor (Orlando), and Retired, Boeing
Company
She attended his funeral. In his life (Coach Hogans’), he spoke
about her quite frequently, very often as a matter of fact, and
he could sing as well. She visited him on special occasions.
- LaBelle: Another Clay County Root Continued.