Valerie was with Ben when he had $5 and when he was a Triple Crown champion.
Key Takeaways
- Ben Hogan married his wife of 62 years, Valerie Fox, in 1935 after dating for three years.
- Valerie often traveled with Ben to his tournaments throughout his career.
- After Ben’s passing in 1997, Valerie actively worked to preserve his legacy and counter misrepresentations of his character.
Ben Hogan, the American professional golfer widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the sport’s history, was married to Valerie Fox for 62 years before he passed away in 1997.
Their marriage was a significant part of Hogan’s life, especially through his professional career and numerous personal challenges.
Posted by Ben Hogan on Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Hogan and Fox first met in the mid-1920s during Sunday school in Fort Worth, where he lived.
It is reported that the pair went to the movies and drank lemonade on their first date.
Valerie quoted about the date,
When we got home he said, ‘May I kiss you?’ to which I replied ‘I don’t think so, but thank you for a wonderful evening. I enjoyed it.’ I didn’t know that my sister Sarah was listening through the open window. As soon as I got in the house, Sarah started imitating us: ‘May I kiss you goodnight? I don’t think so.’ She did it so often in the few days that my mother had to tell her to stop.
FACEBOOK
Despite turning pro at 17, Hogan struggled to make ends meet.
He had landed a low-paying club-pro job in Cleburne, where Valerie’s family had co-incidentally moved.
The two reunited in 1932 and married in April 1935 at her parents’ home. At the time, Hogan was 23, and Fox was 24.
Reportedly, Ben’s mother, Clara Williams Hogan, did not attend the wedding and never got along with Valerie.
Hogan’s early years as a professional golfer were marked with hardship and financial struggle.
In 1937, the Hogans were down to their last $5 when Ben won $380 at the PGA tournament in Oakland, California, a turning point that revitalized his professional journey.
Having joined the PGA tour in 1932, Fox joined her husband in following the tour circuit.
Many remaining photographs show the couple together at prestigious tournaments and events.
After a decade of turning pro, Hogan finally won his first individual professional tournament at the North and South Open in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
In June 1949, when the couple was driving back after a playoff loss at the Phoenix Open, they collided head-first with a Greyhound bus.
They survived the accident, but Hogan was left with a double fracture of the pelvis, a fractured collar bone, a left ankle fracture, a chipped rib, and near-fatal blood clots.
During the accident, Hogan had thrown himself across Valerie to protect her— a heroic move that saved not only his wife’s life but also his own as the steering column had violently punctured the driver’s seat.
Hogan eventually regained his strength through extensive walking and went back to golfing by November 1949.
In 1953, Hogan was the first golfer to win the Triple Crown, securing three major championships in one year: the Masters, U.S. Open, and British Open.
This achievement was later matched only by Tiger Woods in 2000.
Hogan and Valerie received a ticker-tape parade from New York upon his victorious return on the SS United States from the British Open.
In 1953, Hogan won the Hickon Belt for being the “top professional athlete of the year in the US.”
Capitalizing on his most successful year, he began his own golf club company in Fort Worth. “Ben Hogan Golf Company” is still operating today.
In 1960, Hogan sold his company to American Machine and Foundry but remained president.
The Ben Hogan Golf Club Manufacturing Company started their business by only distributing their product through the golf…
Posted by Ben Hogan on Saturday, February 29, 2020
After Ben retired from competitive golf in 1971, the couple continued to reside in Fort Worth.
As he became more reclusive in his later years, Valerie became a fierce protector of his legacy, ensuring his contributions to the sport were honored and remembered.
In 1987, Hogan was hospitalized for two months due to pneumonia. He lost weight significantly during this time.
He never fully returned to his former glory. In 1995, he underwent surgery for colon cancer.
Valerie remained by his side throughout his numerous illnesses, including when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
On July 25, 1997, 84-year-old Ben Hogan passed away in Fort Worth, Texas, after suffering a major stroke.
Valerie, who often shunned the media throughout her husband’s career, took a more public role following his passing.
She attended TV interviews with ESPN and NBC and memorial events, including the Ben Hogan Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, and the opening of the Ben Hogan Room at Golf House in Far Hills, N.J., the headquarters of the United States Golf Association.
Valerie took strong offense to media portrayals of Ben as cold-hearted or unemotional.
She also labeled the 1996 biography of Ben Hogan as an inaccurate portrayal of her husband.
After two years of her husband’s demise, Valerie Fox passed away on June 30, 1999, aged 87.
The couple are interred at Greenwood Memorial Park in Fort Worth.
In Case You Didn’t Know
- In 1922, when Hogan was only 9, his father, Chester Hogan, committed su*cide by gunshot at the family home. This event is often attributed to Hogan’s introverted personality.
- Hogan started working as a newspaper seller, then as a golf caddy to support his family after his father’s passing.
- He served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II from March 1943 to June 1945.
