St. Theresa Catholic Secondary will be celebrating one of their greatest athletes.
Thirty-one-year-old Jon Ogden, who was a two time “Belleville Athlete of the Year”, died earlier this year after a battle with bi-polar disorder.
The Read (Tyendinaga Township) resident grew up playing sports with his three sisters (Melanie, Jessica, and Sarah), and he immediately gravitated towards basketball.
He played every year he attended St. Theresa, and one of his coaches called him the best boys’ basketball player in the school’s history.
Jon’s mother Michelle Ogden says he was very talented in any sport he played.
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The Ogden family, with Jon seated in the back right (submitted to Quinte News)
Ogden would be recruited by Queen’s to play for the Gaels, where he was named Rookie of the Year in the Ontario University Athletics East Division.
In his first two years, Michelle says he began to have struggles.
Anxiety and depression crept into his life, but she says he kept it private.
He left Queen’s after two years, and his mother says he decided to take a few years off. It took a while for him to be diagnosed with bi-polar disorder.
After going back to college in Lindsay, and getting a job in the Washington area, she says he had a few spells, and he eventually moved back home to Read.
Michelle says that’s when things took a turn for the worst. He passed away July 11.
She says it was a very difficult time for her and her husband David, and the family. They decided, however, that out of tragedy they wanted something good to come.
His alma-mater St. Theresa came calling. The school said they wanted to retire Jon’s number and celebrate all he meant to the community and the school.
On Tuesday, December 17, the school will raise his jersey and number to the rafters, before a game with the Nicholson Crusaders.
Hundreds of students will be on hand for the ceremony during a “buyout” with their cross town rivals. There will be some guest speakers.
Money raised from the game will go to the Canadian Mental Health Association. A GoFund Me page has been set up to support the Canadian Mental Health Association. CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK
They will also work to try and start an annual basketball tournament, named in his honour.
Michelle Ogden says if there is anything to come out of this it is that it’s okay to ask for help.
