Glenn M. Wogstad

Glenn Wogstad grew up around cameras. His mother, Dollie, and father, Everet, were avid shutterbugs and the camera bug bit him hard too. Glenn spent a lifetime both in front of and behind a camera, taking thousands of pictures, many of which were award winning. He had a keen eye which was reflected in his film and later digital prints. Glenn was able to capture with his camera the beauty that he saw in the world around him. His camera, and later his phone camera, were never far from his hand.

Glenn taught a couple of generations how to smile and pose for the lens. Family group photos became a tradition, a given, sometimes lightheartedly it felt like an event that must be “endured”. Regardless, those photos captured an instant in time, making it permanent and quite often Glenn had his finger on the button.

On Friday, June 19, 2026, Glenn “Woggie” Wogstad took his last photo. He didn’t press the button this time, but he waited patiently for family to gather round him for one last photo. With close family surrounding him, Glenn passed away shortly after that last shutter click. He was 90 years old.

Glenn was born on April 30, 1936, in Lordsburg, New Mexico. His father was a career military officer, so Glenn and family moved about the country frequently. Despite the many places he lived as a kid, Glenn claimed San Antonio, Texas, as the place he grew up and where he graduated from Jefferson High School. After high school, Glenn attended college part time in San Antonio until he joined the Army in 1958. Glenn was an E-4 Specialist at Fort Knox until his discharge in 1960. He did say the Army wouldn’t let him near the gold.

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Glenn attended Layton School of Art, where he studied . . . yep, photography. He also frequented a coffee shop in Milwaukee and was particularly interested in a cute, young waitress working the counter. One day, Glenn was running for the bus and realized he didn’t have change for bus fare, only a $2 bill. He ran into the coffee shop and up to the young waitress, asking if she had some change for the bus. She did and gave it to him, since she was a bit interested in him too. Glenn gave her his $2 bill and said he would settle up with her later; he knew where she worked. A short while later he married that cute, young waitress, named Marilyn. However, when the couple went to purchase their marriage license, Glenn realized they did not take checks, only cash. Since Glenn and Marilyn had brought their checkbooks, Glenn emptied his pockets for change. Ultimately, they had to use the $2 bill. With the fee properly paid, they were then married on February 14, 1965, a marriage lasting 61 years.

For many years, Glenn worked in the airline industry for both Braniff and Eastern Airlines. In his job, he wore many “hats”. He would check you in at the counter, place your bags on the plane and, on one occasion, was the in-flight steward. Although the pilots didn’t care much for that, since each time Glenn moved around the cabin, they would have to retrim the plane.

Glenn was also an accomplished private pilot and flight instructor of single engine planes and gliders. At one point, his passion for flying took him in a glider over Pikes Peak to 31,000 feet. An impressive accomplishment that he gladly remembered and retold to all those interested. He probably even had photographs. Lots of clouds, probably.

Glenn was a certified SCUBA diver, acrobatic platform diver, a Liverpool card player (“shark” to many), model train collector and consummate computer expert. Glenn loved to travel and saw much of the world in Europe and Asia, but New Zealand was his favorite. In New Zealand, Glenn did jump off a perfectly good and ridiculously high suspension bridge without a parachute. He did admit to having a bungee attached to his legs. Glenn enjoyed “road trips” and took each of his grandsons on separate nationwide trips, stopping in the Badlands, Mt. Rushmore and White Sands, New Mexico, among many other memorable places. There are photos to prove it too.

Glenn was an avid golfer, a whiz at woodcraft and a voracious reader, especially detective fiction. He enjoyed good food, most notably chicken fried steak from the “Tip Top” in San Antonio. Glenn was an active member of several Methodist churches through the years and, least surprisingly, a faithful member of the Ft. Worth Camera Club.

Glenn Wogstad, the husband, father, grandfather, friend, and photographer will be missed. Glenn Wogstad does, however, live on in thousands and thousands of his photographs and in our memories. His love of photography was only eclipsed by his deeper love of family. And just like his family has and will continue to do so, remember Glenn in a look at any of his photographs, whether he is in them or not. Each photo is an instant in time held forever. The same can be said for the place Glenn now has in our hearts.

Glenn Wogstad is survived by wife Marilyn Wogstad of Grapevine, Texas; daughter Wendy Riley and son-in-law Joe Riley of Grapevine, Texas; grandsons Bennett Riley of Lakewood, Colorado, and Palmer Riley of Arvada, Colorado; brother James Wogstad and wife Kay of San Antonio, Texas.

Glenn is preceded in death by parents Dollie and Everet Wogstad and brother Robert Wogstad.