My first meeting with Tom Fogg? My age and, subsequently, my memory do not give me a clear picture.

 

Here is what I am more certain of. It was highly likely the late 1980s or early 1990s. It was almost certainly at a sporting event. And it almost definitely involved either Bridgeport High School or Bridgeport Middle School.

 

Here is what I am 100 percent certain of. I laughed. And I left his presence smiling.

 

Why am I so sure of the last part? Because it was a scenario that repeated itself hundreds of times over the next few decades to me and anyone he encountered.

 

As I write this and think of Tom, I am still smiling. At the same time, that smile is not as full at the moment as it should be.

 

The reason for that, as many of you know, is that on Wednesday, April 30, after a battle with cancer that began a little more than half a year ago, Tom Fogg passed away.

 

I learned of the news via his daughter Kelsey’s Facebook post that captured the essence of the man far better than I will do here. At the same time, Tom Fogg’s life needs to be celebrated for what it was – one of impact.

 

Seeing that impact was something I usually observed from a distance. Family and close friends, and when it came to close friends it was an endless list, saw the impact and felt it regularly if not daily.

 

Talking to all of those individuals for this blog would be an effort in futility. Instead, I asked a few folks who knew him well and they brought up a familiar name to talk to – Jon Griffith. Griffith, the now retired Bridgeport educator, was a former coaching and teaching colleague of Fogg’s who met him in the same time range of the 1990s.

 

During the 1990s, Griffith – known as the godfather of BHS track – was coaching freshman football. Fogg and Griffith met then, as Fogg was already entrenched at what is now Bridgeport Middle School (then Bridgeport Junior High) and coaching football as well.

 

Griffith’s first impression of Fogg?

 

“He was hilarious. Tom was a funny, funny man. The other thing that was quickly obvious was that he loved sports from the Steelers and WVU to all things Bridgeport,” said Griffith. “It didn’t take long for him to become friends with everyone because he not only was always kidding around and making you laugh, but he was easy to talk to. The humor always stood out, but there was so much more.”

 

And that is where Tom Fogg became a man whose impact cannot be fully measured. He did not just coach. He was an educator as well. On both fronts, Griffith said he positively altered the course of the lives of far too many students to mention.

 

“He was just bright and an excellent teacher who loved history, or social studies, and he loved that until the day he died. He read more books than anyone I know; anything to do with history,” said Griffith. “When he began having trouble reading, he got into audio books and listened. He never lost that thirst for learning, and it was something he shared in his classroom.”

 

It was in the classroom where the real professional magic took place. Griffith saw it during Fogg’s years at BHS, but he is certain it was well in place before at other teaching stops, including BMS, where he spent 31 years on the sidelines all the way back to when it was Bridgeport Junior High School before stepping down in 2012.

 

Others saw it before Bridgeport. He coached at Salem Junior High, Roosevelt-Wilson, and Notre Dame Middle School. He taught at other schools prior to Bridgeport as well.

 

“One of the key things as a teacher is to keep the students engaged because if they’re not, they don’t learn. He was the best at doing it,” said Griffith. “The kids in his class were involved and he did it by making learning entertaining. He was just outstanding at his job.”

 

The theme of laughter and entertainment permeated Tom Fogg’s life. It helped him be an outstanding coach and educator. But, to only define him as the man who made you laugh – and he did that in spades – would be selling him short. To only recall him as a Board of Education employee would also not paint the entire portrait.

 

“He loved his family, he loved his wife (Beverly), he loved his (three) kids, and his friends. He absolutely adored his grandkids,” said Griffith. “I think when times were tough all he needed to do was talk to, think about, or see one of his grandkids and he just pressed forward. It was wonderful seeing him with those grandchildren.”

 

Griffith said his granddaughter Braxton, Kelsey’s daughter, stayed with Tom and Beverly a good bit. Griffith said the interaction was beautiful.

 

“If she was around, he lit up. Braxton called him ‘Grumpy,’ and he adored her. He adored all of them,” Griffith said. “His world was devoted to those grandkids. They were his shining light, and they loved him just as much as he loved them.”

 

There was a lot of love in the Fogg household, even as conditions with Tom’s health faded in recent years and took a terrible turn with the recent diagnosis of cancer. Griffith talked about how his wife always stood by his side, holding dearly to the “in sickness and in health” vow they had taken decades ago.

 

His children loved him. And as noted above, the grandchildren adored him. The household, despite the difficulties, was a full circle of love. And it also created a couple of additional positive components.

 

“During the last few years, he got deep into his faith. He came to his terms with his religion and his faith, and it brought him a level of comfort,” said Griffith. “He was confident in the afterlife for him and even with his struggles and knowing his time was limited, he felt peace thanks to his faith.”

 

Another positive component reflected on his influence as the teacher, the coach, and the man. Many whose lives he had impacted decided to return the favor.

 

“He touched thousands of lives in a positive way and in the past few years whenever Tom needed help, the number of athletes, former students, friends he made along the way, were there to help,” said Griffith. “These were kids, now adults, who were there for him, and it was a direct response to his impact.

 

“I was fortunate I got to see the impact he made with his family and the difference he made with those students who became adults,” Griffith continued. “His reach turned out to be extremely wide, and beyond teaching. He was good on so many fronts.”

 

A father, a husband, a grandfather, a teacher, a coach, and so much more. He was good at them all. And, yes, he was certainly an entertainer.

 

You may have noticed earlier in this blog I mentioned Tom Fogg passed after a battle with cancer. I did not say he lost his battle with cancer.

 

To say Tom Fogg lost to anything in life may give one the impression there was nothing gained, nothing worth carrying forward. That would be far from the truth. Tom Fogg’s legacy lives in his family and friends and a mountain of smiles time will never be able to wash away.

 

Thanks for the laughs and the smiles, and thanks for being a good man on every front.

 

Rest in Peace Tom. Your work here is finished.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo, courtesy of Jon Griffith, shows Tom Fogg in the halls at Bridgeport Middle. In the second photo, Fogg is shown at Jamison Field with his dear friend Fuzz Malfregeot. In the third image Fogg talks shop with WVU Coach Rich Rodriguez during Rodriguez's first stint in Morgantown, while he is shown teaching at Salem Junior High in the next image. In the fifth photo, from 2005, Fogg's brief career attempt as a rapper came up short. In a family photo at the bottom, Fogg and his wife Beverly are shown surrounded by their children, back from left, Jenna Fogg Myers, David Fogg, and Kelsey Fogg. All photos with the exception of the first courtesy of the family of Tom Fogg.