4 minute read
Meet the Gogartys: World Travelers Rooted in Danville
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By Megan Scott, Resident since 2010
Even though Jim and Rose Gogarty worked at the same company together after college, they didn’t officially meet until they were both invited to the same engagement party. It was the 1980’s and Rose was friends with the bride, and Jim the groom. They hit it off, and even though the engaged couple didn’t last, Rose and Jim did.
The couple grew up only a short drive apart from each other. Jim in Burlingame and Rose in Mountain View. After a relatively brief courtship they were married in 1985 at Rose’s Baptist church in San Mateo with a Catholic priest sharing in the ceremony. A bagpiper played as they walked out of the church as husband and wife and headed for a two week honeymoon in the Hawaiian Islands.
Parents to two grown sons, Ryan and Kevin, the family moved to Danville in 1989 when the boys were just toddlers. Ryan and Kevin attended Baldwin Elementary, Charlotte Wood Middle School and San Ramon Valley High. They are both Eagle Scouts and love to hike and camp. After graduating from the University of Arizona, Ryan worked in business and recently achieved his Master’s in counseling from St Mary’s. Kevin graduated from California State University, Northridge and is an independent Legal Videographer working all over the Bay Area. “Ryan lives in the East Bay and Kevin in Sacramento. We feel so blessed to have our boys close and get to visit with them often,” says Rose.
Jim has enjoyed a successful sales career working at top software firms including Microsoft and IPO’s with J.D. Edwards, E.piphany and most recently Demandware, which was then acquired in 2016 by Salesforce. He frequently travels for work, and Rose likes to join him when possible. Rose is retired and was most recently an office administrator for Alain Pinel in Danville.
The Gogarty family has strong Irish roots. Jim’s comes from a large Irish family with four siblings. His parents immigrated separately from Ireland and fell in love in New York City in the early 1950’s. They married and moved first to Chicago and then in the early 1960’s to Burlingame where Jim grew up. His father, Harry Gogarty, managed the Irish Tourist Board in San Francisco. The family spent many summer holidays in Ireland visiting relatives and were fortunate to be upgraded to first class on transatlantic voyages aboard the HMS Queen Elizabeth 2.
Sunrise at Angkor Wat, Siem Reap Cambodia (2018)
Camping has always been a part of Rose’s life. “I remember traveling to campgrounds across the country with my family of six from a very young age. We even took a 6-week trip to New York and back from Mountain View, so needless to say, I still love to camp,” says Rose. The Gogartys have a tradition of going to Yosemite and have been going with the same group for over 20 years.
Danville residents for three decades and three houses later, Rose and Jim love living here. “We first settled in the Sycamore neighborhood, then Woodranch, and have been in Blackhawk since 2017. We love it here; everyone has been very welcoming. Jim golfs often and I enjoy being involved with Blackhawk Women’s club,” says Rose. They both enjoy the new gym in Blackhawk.
It’s always been important to give back and be involved in the community for the Gogartys. Rose sews for an organization called Capes4Heros which makes personalized superhero capes for kids with disabilities, kids with life threatening illnesses and kids who just need to feel empowered. She is also involved in the Danville Alamo Garden Club and plans to join the Blackhawk Bloomers. Jim is on the golf committee at the Discovery Counselling Center, supporting their annual October event. He also recently joined the Knights of Columbus at St. Isadore parish.
Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background. Amboseli National Park
Rose and Jim love to travel. During Jim’s recent sabbatical they went on a Safari to Africa. “I had always dreamed of going on safari and we also researched Jim’s great uncle who was bishop of Kilimanjaro in the 1920’s and 30’s. We started with four safaris across Kenya and then visited the school in Tanzania that was named after Jim’s great uncle, Henry Aloysius Gogarty – The Henry Gogarty Memorial Girls’ Secondary school. Jim’s great uncle had traveled from Tanzania to Rome to formally sponsor The Sisters of Our Lady of Kilimanjaro. We also visited the school and during a special assembly, the girls sang their school song, which was very moving. We went to the home Jim’s uncle helped build for the sisters. It was very emotional as everyone was excited and happy to meet a relative of their patriarch. Prayers were said for us in Swahili and we were treated like celebrities,” remembers Rose.
They have two darling pets: a malti-poo named Guinness and a 14-year-old cat named Mario. Guinness is a very active dog who likes to chase the squirrels. There’s never a dull moment with him around. The neighbors laugh when Jim goes outside and calls out “Where’s my Guinness?”
This June they visited Monaco and France, sailing on a Rhone river cruise and culminating with several days in Paris. Last year they traveled with friends on a river cruise in Vietnam and Cambodia. A trip in 2020 is already booked with Star Clippers to Croatia and Montenegro leaving out of Venice with a side trip to Rome. The Gogartys really have seen the world, but they always love coming home to Blackhawk.
In June 2019. Lyon, France
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