“Honey Ma” Remembered With Sweetness

by Laura Glesby The New Haven independent

Over 50 people gathered in the courtyard of Mill River Crossing to remember a ​“village mom” and ​“matriarch” of the housing complex, Mary ​“Honey Ma” Ogman.

Mary “Honey Ma” Ogman.

One week after Ogman died at the age of 79, her daughter and longtime caretaker, Hill Alder Angel Hubbard, convened neighbors, relatives, and friends for a balloon release in her honor on Wednesday afternoon.

Dozens of people turned out to Mill River Crossing (a recently reconstructed public housing complex previously named Farnam Courts and known to many as ​“the G”) to exchange memories and sing her praises, undeterred by the afternoon rain.

Ogman served as the president of Farnam’s tenants council and mentored neighbors who sought to follow in her footsteps, including former alder Brenda Harris.

According to Hubbard, Ogman advocated for everything from neighborhood greenery to a sound barrier protecting her fellow tenants from the nearby highway noise to more activities and opportunities for the children in the complex. 

“For those that went to jail, my mother gave you your first $50” upon returning home, Hubbard said. 

She would organize field trips for all the kids, including to the Riverside amusement park (now known as Six Flags) and New York City. Those trips remain an inspiration for Hubbard as she organizes community events in the Hill.

Aryella Edwards, who grew up at Farnam, recalled the impact of those field trips: ​“I never saw the outside of the projects until her.” 

Edwards first knew Ogman as a godmother, a close friend of her mother’s from years of being neighbors. When she was 15, her own mother passed away, and from then on, Ogman raised her as a child of her own.

“She was always very protective and took an extra interest in me when I was a child,” Edwards recalled. ​“She was a true godmother” and eventually became a grandmother to Edwards’ children.

Ogman raised a total of 16 kids, Hubbard said, including both biological children and children she took in over the years.

She somehow also seemed to take care of every kid who lived at Farnam.

She was the ​“village mom,” said Antonette Marie Turner, who remembered how Ogman once came to her child’s rescue during an asthma attack. 

“When my kids were with her kids, I knew they were safe,” said Patricia Boozer.

“I called her my mother-in-love,” said Casey Ogman, a daughter-in-law who remained close with Ogman even after she and her ex-husband divorced. 

One moment that meant the world was ​“her telling me that I’m doing a good job as a mom,” Casey recounted. ​“She just wanted to reassure me.”

Mahogany Perry remembered how Ogman would always call her over to say something like, ​“Come here, let me give you a couple of dollars. Come here, let me tell you how beautiful you are, how smart you are.”

“We lost a matriarch of our community and our family,” said Edwards.

Antonette Marie Turner: Honey Ma was the “village mom.”

Mahogany Perry honors Honey Ma in the rain.

Hubbard and Ogman.