Father John Christopher Vogl, a Catholic priest of the Diocese of Yakima and veteran of the U.S. Army’s famed 82nd Airborne Division, died at his residence in Benton City, WA March 31, after a sudden illness. He was 64.

Born October 12, 1961 in Spokane to Paul G. Vogl and Joan A. (Johnson) Vogl, he was baptized at St. Augustine Church in Spokane on October 29. His parents divorced when he was five. When his father remarried, Barbara Walter became “Mom.” John grew up in Oregon, and spent many summer vacations fishing with friends along the Deschutes River.

He was preceded in death by his father (1977); Joan (2007) and a brother, Ken, in 2024. He is survived by Barbara, whom he called faithfully every Saturday; and siblings Jan MacWilliams (Brian, deceased); Karen Vogl; Steve Vogl (Pam Doughton); Don Vogl (BJ, deceased); Sherry Wheeler (Don); Debbie Henry, and many cousins, nieces and nephews. Father John’s dachshund, Pauly (named after his father) lived to be 20 years old under his loving and devoted care.

John graduated from La Salle High School in Milwaukie, OR in 1981. He attended St. Mary College in Moraga, California from 1981 to 1984, while discerning a religious vocation with the De La Salle Christian Brothers. On August 9, 1987, John enlisted in the United States Army as a Chaplain’s Assistant and trained as a paratrooper. His tours of service included the Middle East as well as Somalia, during the “Blackhawk Down” incident. He was formally discharged on March 20, 1995.

John was proud of his military service and even years later could recite the many cadences he learned to sing during his basic training. He also acknowledged the traumatic stress he had suffered, which had lingering effects in his personal life and church ministry.

John also studied at St. Martin’s College in Lacey, WA from 1994 to 1996 and discerned a religious vocation with the Benedictine monks at Mount Angel Abbey in Oregon. He was accepted in 1996 for training as a priest for the Diocese of Yakima, entering Sacred Heart Seminary in Hales Corner, Wisconsin. He graduated in 2000 with a Master of Divinity Degree. The avid fisherman became a “fisher of men” through his ordination to the priesthood at Saint Paul Cathedral in Yakima on May 26, 2000, by Bishop Carlos A. Sevilla, S.J.

Father John’s first assignment was as associate pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church in Grandview. He later served at Holy Family Church in Yakima and Saint Joseph Church in Waterville. He received permission to serve for a time in the Diocese of Baker, in Eastern Oregon. Following his return to the Yakima Diocese in 2011, he worked for a time at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church in

Benton City, serving there and at Saint Joseph Church in Kennewick. In 2015 he began a two-year assignment helping with the Office of the Tribunal and Canonical Services in Yakima, while offering occasional help for memorial services at Calvary Cemetery. In 2017 he returned to the Benton City church and resumed helping there and in Kennewick. A year ago, he received a papal blessing from Pope Leo XIV to mark 25 years of priestly service.

Having been out of ministry since this past November for health reasons, Father John underwent major hernia surgery in February. He had been making steady progress to resume ministry, including hearing confessions at parish penance services during Lent. Father John finally was able to celebrate two Masses on his own at St. Joseph the morning he died. He also had reported that day that he did not feel well, but attributed it to nervousness.

The Funeral Vigil will be at 6 p.m. Sunday, April 12, at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church, 1000 Horne Road, in Benton City, with a reception to follow. The Funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Monday, April 13, at St. Paul Cathedral, 15 S. 12th Ave., Yakima, WA 98902, followed by burial in the Priests Plot at Calvary Cemetery, 1405 S. 24th Ave., Yakima, WA 98902, and a luncheon back at the Cathedral.

Memorials in his honor may be made to the Priest Retirement Fund or Seminarian Education Fund of the Diocese of Yakima, 101 S. 12th Ave., Yakima, WA 98902. Einan’s at Sunset Funeral Home in Richland has been entrusted with arrangements.