6976469959.jpg &&& ALTHOUGH ROBERT Bevan Hogan didn't like to talk much about his service as a Navy flier in the Pacific Theater in World War II, his family managed to put together some information that attested to his remarkable courage. "He told about flying through the clouds and smoke and dropping bombs into the smokestacks of Japanese ships," said his daughter Judy Hogan Wood. He was flying the Douglas SBD Dauntless, a dive bomber that employed the dangerous "hell-diving" technique to smash Japanese fleets at several battles that turned the tide of victory in the Pacific. Robert Hogan, who served 25 years in the Navy and then became a top salesman for the Pennsylvania Tire Co. in Bristol, died Nov. 3. He was 92 and lived in Center City. Robert once told his son Robert B. Hogan Jr. that during the war, on Bougainville, he and another pilot flew a daredevil attack through a narrow mountain pass to attack a dock where submarines were being serviced and loaded. The planes had to turn almost sideways to get through the pass, he said. When Robert was stationed at the Willow Grove Naval Air Station, the family took him to see the movie "Midway." "His feet were stomping on the floor as he was trying to control the planes in the movie," his son said. "He broke out in a cold sweat and he had to leave the theater." After the war, he was stationed at the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba. "We could travel all over the island in those days," said his daughter. "That was before the revolution. Afterward, we were confined to the base. We could see the sugar-cane fields burning." Her father flew a variety of reconnaissance planes, patrolling the East Coast and the Mediterranean, looking for submarines. He flew the Grumman S2F Tracker and the Grumman JF-2 Duck, a seaplane, among others. "He would be gone months at a time," his daughter said. "I remember when he walked through the door in his flying suit, I thought he was the handsomest man on the face of the earth. My sister and I would throw our arms around him and hold him tight." Hearing problems, which he believed were caused by years spent around the roar of aircraft engines, finally grounded him. Among his last assignments was as a Navy recruiter in Pittsburgh. He retired in 1966 with the rank of commander and became a salesman for the Pennsylvania Tire Co. Because of his charm, wit and people skills, he was soon its top salesman. Robert was born in Norfolk to Hunter Aloysius Hogan and the former Cecilia Philbin. He graduated from William and Mary College and Duke University. He was a real estate broker in Norfolk in 1941 when he joined the Navy. He met his wife, Monica Dougherty, on a Naval base in Jacksonville, Fla., where she was a lieutenant (junior grade) in the WAVES. He held the same rank. "He saw her walk by his barracks and he told a friend, 'I'm going to marry that girl,' " his daughter said. After a courtship of only two months, they were married in December 1945. Monica died in May 2004 at age 88. She was a teacher who also flew small planes. In recent years, Robert was cared for by a daughter, Patricia Mary Hogan, who died in February. She was a secretary of the Friends of Rittenhouse Square and a garden is planned in the square as a memorial to her. Besides his son and daughter, he is survived by another daughter, Monica Albus; another son, Michael; 12 grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. Services: Were Saturday. Burial was in Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken. Donations in his name may be made to the Poor Clare Monastery, 1271 Newtown-Yardley Road, Langhorne PA 19047.