His actions were selfless, his heart was big and his chatter was constant. But above all, Ian Alexander Pogue’s smile was contagious.
“I believe Ian was put in this earth to love and show people how to love,” said Ian’s friend Brenda Moran. “Ian never failed to make anyone who crossed his path smile. Whether it was by simply asking how their day was going or by giving them one of his beautiful smiles, he brightened everyone’s day.”
Ian Pogue wanted to be a physical therapist after graduating, and he spent his time at A&M pursuing a degree in physiology and frequenting the Student Recreation Center.
His friend Trestan Bryant said Ian had a way of getting him to the REC before the sun was even up.
“His life revolved around helping others, the weight room and health,” Bryant said. “Every day he found a way to get lifting. At one point, we ended up going when the REC opened up at 6 a.m. and that wasn’t the first time.”
Bryant said he seemed to find himself in all sorts of interesting situations when Pogue was around.
Recalling the on-the-spot weekend trips to Austin, the late-night games of frisbee down the corridors of Moses Hall and, one Feb. 13, a trip to Wal-Mart to purchase everyone in the dorm a gift for Valentine’s Day, Bryant said Ian took spontaneity to a new level.
“He was beyond spontaneous,” Bryant said. “There was never a dull moment.”
Bryant said Ian never asked for anything in return for the things he did and the state of Ian’s day depended on the state of his friends. Bryant said he could not walk with Ian anywhere on campus without making a new best friend.
“He never made a friend, he made best friends,” Bryant said. “We thought he knew everyone on campus.”
Lanette Pogue, Ian’s mom, said 130 of those best friends crowded into their house for an all-night remembrance of his life after what she called, her son’s “homecoming.”
“[W]e sang, laughed, told stories, pigged out on pizza – all things Ian would love,” Lanette Pogue said. “We learned story after story from his young days in Vacaville, Ca., to his last days in Austin and College Station, Texas. How he valued people above all other earthly things and was a man of God filled with passion for life and relationships with others.”
Lanette Pogue said her son impacted many lives and will be missed.
“We love and miss him and know he is whooping from Heaven,” Lannette said.