Jeremiah David Wright Hoggard was born in Jersey City, New Jersey on November 25, 1914. As a child, his parents would take him to National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) meetings, and he joined the organization before serving in the United States Air Force during World War II. In 1945, he was transferred to Nellis Air Force Base. By the next year, Hoggard moved to Las Vegas, Nevada with his two sons after being recently widowed.