Obit: Hagedorn, Pastor Harold Julius (1944 - 2015)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Hagedorn, Kuehl, Strangfeld, Eweg, Reilly, Schlomer

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 4/29/2015

Hagedorn, Pastor Harold Julius (4 October 1944 - 17 April 2015)

Harold ‘Harry’ Julius Hagedorn, 70, passed away April 17, 2015, in Boise, ID, with family at his side, from cancer-related health issues.

Harry was born Oct. 4, 1944, to Julius and Henrietta Hagedorn and grew up on a dairy farm in Neillsville, along with an older sister, Patricia, and younger brother, Charles. While at Sunday school at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Globe, rural Neillsville, the instructor asked if any of the students were interested in becoming a pastor and Harry raised his hand, setting the course for the rest of his life. He attended Dr. Martin Luther Preparatory High School in new Ulm, MN, then Northwestern College in Watertown, WI, and finally Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, graduating in 1970. When in college, Harry met Kathleen Kuehl. They married Aug. 24, 1969.

Upon graduation, Pastor Hagedorn served in Arizona, Colorado and Wauwatosa, WI, where Harry took the position of associate administrator and later administrator of the Board for Home Missions at the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) headquarters in Milwaukee. In his position in Home Missions Harry helped start churches across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. He semi-retired in 2010 and served as part-time ministerial assistant at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Wauwatosa, his home town church from the time he returned to Wisconsin.

After 43 years of marriage, Kathie was gathered to the Lord in March 2013. Harry fully retired and moved to Idaho to be closer to his youngest grandchildren. Harry enjoyed his time in Idaho, becoming an avid birdwatcher, road tripping with his daughter, Christine, and family, and as an active weather watcher, rejoicing at missing two consecutive hard Midwestern winters. A keen traveler, he greatly enjoyed visiting his daughter, Kathryn, and family in Interlochen, MI, and his son, David, and wife for a fifth visit to their home in London, England. The family would be remiss if they didn’t mention Harry’s lifelong love of a morning coffee and Sunday night popcorn.

Harry is survived by his sister, Pat Strangfeld of Neillsville; brother Charlie; son, Dave, and daughter-in-law, Marjolein Eweg; daughter, Christine, and son-in-law, Gabriel Reilly, and ‘Grand’s Colin (50, Henry (30, and Violet (3); and daughter, Katie, and son-in-law, Matthew Schlomer, and ‘Grand’s Claudia (13), Roy (11) and Evelyn (9).

A memorial service for Harry was held Sunday, April 26, 2015, at 4 p.m. at Peace in Jesus Lutheran Church in Boise. Another memorial will be held at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Wauwatosa, Sunday, May 10, at 2 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks memorials be made to Peace in Jesus Lutheran Church based in Boise, ID (http://peaceinjesus4vietnamese.com) or Truth in Love Ministry with origins in Nampa, ID (http://tilm.org/about/presidents-message).