Thomas A. Hogard

Thomas Arthur Hogard, 73, passed away March 18, 2025. He was born June 5, 1951, to Thomas Winslow and Wilma Jeanette Hogard in West Plains, AR. The oldest of six, he was followed by sister Denise and then brothers Michael, Eric, Chris and Brian.

Tom grew up in Overland Park, graduating from Shawnee Mission West in 1969, where he had been a kicker for the football team and a trumpet player in the school band. At age 17, he designed a geodesic dome home in shop class. That dream became a reality in 1992, when he built it on 10 acres in rural Eudora, KS.

He was the first 18-year-old to vote in the State of Kansas, making news in the Kansas City Star, and later was the second recipient of the Radial Keratotomy eye surgery in the Kansas City area.

Tom and his first wife, Cathy, were married in 1971. Their beautiful daughter, Erin, was born in 1976.

Tom attended the UMKC Conservatory of Music for a short time but began to change his course in life to law enforcement when he joined the Johnson County Park Patrol. He was also a projectionist for AMC Theatres for many years before going to work for the Gardner Police Department, where he met his second wife, Jillane. They were married in 1987, and though they never had children, they raised quite a few Chihuahuas.

Tom’s law enforcement career took off when he joined the Leawood Police Department, where he went from patrolman to corporal and finally, sergeant. He was a well-known law enforcement educator in defensive tactics, crash investigation, impaired driving enforcement, ethics, radar and laser. Tom was also an instructor at the Johnson County Regional Police Academy, where he taught many classes. He retired in 2009, with 31 years of dedicated service to this profession.

His second career was as a sawyer. Tom built his sawmill business (Tom the Sawyer) from the ground up and learned this craft with the same passion he had for law enforcement. Tom traveled with his TimberKing portable sawmill, using it to saw logs into lumber from felled or salvaged fallen trees, preserving as much lumber as possible so it could be made into beautiful heirlooms, allowing the tree to live on. Other times, clients would bring logs to the dome where they were milled on site.

You never saw Tom without a measuring tape of some kind. Woodworking was always something he enjoyed. Among other things, he crafted a California king size bed and made Erin a desk. He also designed a log arch to make moving large logs easier and would give those blueprints away to people all over the world, from here in the states, to as far away as India and Singapore. He was well known and respected by sawyers near and far from his YouTube videos teaching people to mill.

As a member of the Leawood Lions Club, he tabulated the Salvation Army red kettles for many years. Tom and Jillane loved to travel. He had a lifelong love of reading and music, especially movie soundtracks, and he collected Millefiori and Murano glass paperweights; he loved the beauty of them. One of his favorite pastimes was teaching his young grandson, Max, how to fish, something he had also done with his daughter when she was a child.

Health issues arrived with colon cancer in 2006. With surgery, chemo and radiation, he was cancer free until its recurrence in 2021. Immediately following the second of two major surgeries to address the cancer, Tom suffered two massive strokes, leaving him paralyzed on the left side with no balance and bringing an abrupt end to his career as a sawyer and life as he knew it. He had a prolonged hospitalization, eventually being moved to Baldwin City Healthcare, where he resided until his passing. Jillane was by his side every step of the way, spending several hours there daily with him for the duration.

Tom was a big, tall guy with a big heart, and he truly loved teaching and helping people. He will be tremendously missed and loved always.

Tom is preceded in death by his parents and brother, Brian. He is survived by his wife, Jillane; daughter, Erin Kurtz; grandson, Max.

Visitation will be held Thursday, March 27th at 2 p.m., memorial service following at 3 p.m., Overland Park Funeral Chapel, 8201 Metcalf, Overland Park, KS 66204.

Donations can be made to Baldwin City Healthcare and Rehab Center, 1223 Orchard Lane, Baldwin City, KS 66006.