PORTLAND — Theodore James Volger Jr., 50, died Dec. 6 at his home with his family by his side.

Despite the challenges he faced battling cancer over the last four years, he remained a remarkably strong person with a zest for life and infectious vitality.

Volger was born on March 15, 1961 to Theodore James and Ellen Burke Volger of Portland. He grew up in Portland’s Libbytown neighborhood and attended Portland public schools, graduating from Portland High School in 1979.

While at Portland High School, he was an outstanding baseball player, playing for the legendary Edson Hadlock. In 1977 he started as a third basemen for the State Championship team and was selected for the All-Telegram league all-star teams. He was also a quarterback and defensive back on the PHS football team where he received honors for both positions.

Volger and his wife Julie, who he called the love of his life, married on June 21, 1991 and he immortalized her in a song he wrote and recorded called “Trouble Brewin’.”

He loved to spend time with his family and cherished the time he spent raising his children, Angela, Teddy and Nick. He was proud of the fact that he never missed one of his children’s athletic events over the past 20 years.

In his free time he enjoyed spending time at his camp on Pequawket Lake with his family. He and Julie always felt fortunate that they were able to purchase the camp next to his parents’ camp where he and his sisters, Pat and Ellen, and brother Paul, shared so many special times. He loved to watch his grandchildren try to catch frogs and fish from the dock, and spent many hours taking his children and their friends tubing around the lake.

Coaching was one of Vogel’s lifelong passions. He began coaching baseball at the senior Little League level in 1990 and then at Deering High School in 1994. One of his favorite memories was in 2007 when he took his 13 year old Portland North All Star team to compete in the New England Regional tournament in Bristol, Conn. During his time coaching, his teams won four state championships and competed in the New England regional tournaments. In addition to coaching baseball, he was also a football coach for many years. On July 31, 2011 he was inducted into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame.

For many years, Volger worked as a real estate appraiser for Bud Solari and Randy Kempton before setting up his own appraisal company. He loved the interactions with town clerks and his clients and even after he became sick, he kept in contact with many former coworkers.

He was a passionate New York Giants, Red Sox and Portland High School fan, as well as an avid fisherman, hunter and outdoorsman. He loved to hunt and looked forward to deer season every year, spending many days with his brother and friends hunting and fishing.

Vogel’s family would like to thank his oncologist, Matthew Dugan, and his staff, Marcy, Jim and Julie, for their extraordinary care over the past four years. They would also like to thank Sue Bowden and her nursing staff.

He was predeceased by his parents Theodore James Volger Sr. and Ellen Burke Volger. He is survived by his wife, Julie; daughter Angela; sons Teddy and Nick; grandchildren Patrick, Isabella and Avery; sisters Pat Taylor and her husband Jon and Ellen Profenno and her husband Tony; brother Paul Voger and his wife Susan; and many nieces and nephews.

Services were held on Dec. 9 at Jones, Rich & Hutchins Funeral Home, 199 Woodford St., Portland followed by a Mass of Christian Burial on Dec. 10. Internment took place at Old Calvary Cemetery in South Portland.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his memory to fund the annual Portland High School sports scholarship to: The Ted Volger Youth Center, Cumberland County Federal Credit Union, 101 Gray Rd., Falmouth, Me 04105.