THOMAS JOHN OGDEN was born November 6, 1929 to Albert S. & Elsie Ogden in Camden, New Jersey. His family first came to Camden in the late 1850s. His great-grandfather was Benjamin Harrison Ogden, who after being in the milk business for several years, established a wagon building business at 339 Pine Street, the Ogden Carriage Works, around 1894.  Grandfather
Benjamin Franklin Ogden followed his father into the family business and transitioned it into auto body repair. In later years it was known as B.F. Ogden & Company, and remained at the Pine Street location as late as 1928, by which time it had expanded to 337-345 Pine Street. In the 1930s the business moved to Ferry Avenue where it operated well into the 1970s as Ogden Auto Body.

Albert S Ogden married Elsie Hamel in the early 1920s. He and wife Elsie lived with her parents at 3101 Waldorf Avenue in East Camden from 1924 to 1926. The 1928 City Directory shows them living next door at 3117 Waldorf Avenue, where they resided as late as 1959. This appears to have been a new home when the Ogdens moved in. A son, Albert S. Jr. was born in August of 1927, and Thomas followed right behind in November of 1929. Albert S. Ogden Sr.  supported his family working as a toll collector on the Delaware River Bridge, known in more recent years as the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.

honorably discharged on March 4, 1954. He returned home to Camden, and was self-employed as a house painter when he was appointed to the Camden Fire Department. Thomas J. Ogden reported for duty in December of 1956. At the time of his appointment he was single and living at 864 Lois Avenue in Cramer Hill. Thomas J. Ogden retired on December 1, 1981.

Thomas Ogden, his wife Mary and their children Kathleen, Thomas Jr., and Samuel, lived at 308 Morse Street in East Camden during the 1960s and 1970s. After Camden lifted the residency requirements for city employees, the family moved to Blackwood, New Jersey. In 2002 Thomas and Mary Ogden moved to Florida.

Survived by his wife and children, Thomas J. Ogden passed away on February 19, 2015.