In Memoriam: Rev. Martin Hagan SJ

28 Apr 2008

by: Michael G. Harter SJ

Rev. Martin Hagan SJ, died peacefully on April 28, 2008, at Saint Louis University Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. Father Hagan was 89 years old and a member of the Jesuit Hall Community. Born in Wichita, Kansas, on March 11, 1919, Marty entered the Society of Jesus at St. Stanislaus Seminary in Florissant, Missouri, on September 1, 1937. He was ordained June 14, 1950, in St. Mary’s College in Kansas. Following tertianship in Decatur, Illinois, he was assigned to St. Louis University High School where he spent the next 51 years teaching and counseling freshmen. Each year Marty diligently learned the name of each new freshman and tracked their academic progress. He perfected tried and true ways of encouraging each of them to excellence . . . or at least passage to sophomore year. He founded the school rifle club which he coached to five national championships. He was equally well known as the moderator of the school recreation room where he gathered the largest collection of pool tables in the Midwest. He paid for new equipment by assessing a five-cent fine each time a billiard ball hit the cement floor. Students still call out “nickel” every time a pool shot goes astray. In 2003 the rec room was named in his honor—a fitting tribute to a man who frequently said the sound of a crowd of boys laughing is “music to my ears and brings a smile to my face.” May he rest in peace.

Funeral arrangements are as follows:

Visitation
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
St. Francis Xavier (College) Church
3:00-5:00 PM

Funeral Mass
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
St. Francis Xavier (College) Church
5:00 PM

Burial
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Calvary Cemetery
9:00 AM

Messages of condolences or memorial contributions in honor of Marty's faithful service and ministry may be made to support the works of his Jesuit colleagues. Please mail to:

Jesuits of the Missouri Province
4511 West Pine Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63108-2191

Ignatian PeaceAction 2008 | Special Audience with Holy Father Benedict XVI