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Wichita native Fr. Martin Hagan dies in St. Louis

Jesuit Father Martin Hagan died April 28, at Saint Louis University Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. Father Hagan was 89 years old and a member of the Jesuit Hall Community.

Father was born in Wichita on March 11, 1919, and entered the Society of Jesus at St. Stanislaus Seminary in Florissant, Mo., on Sept. 1, 1937. He was ordained June 14, 1950, in St. Mary’s College in Kansas.

Following tertianship in Decatur, Ill., he was assigned to St. Louis University High School where he spent the next 51 years teaching and counseling freshmen.

Each year Father Hagan 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 recreation 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.”

WILBERT

Francoise E., 88, Our Lady of Lourdes, Pittsburg, April 10. Survivors include sons Kenneth and Dennis; brother Raymond Trumbule; sisters Irene Nichol and Joan Lowe.

BURKE

John L., 74, St. Joseph, Wichita, April 19. Survivors include wife Mary Evelyn; sons Chris, Bob and Steve; daughters Cheryl Julian, Judy Saxton and Janet Wilhite.

HAYNES

Jayne, 71, Catholic Care Center, Wichita, April 17.

THIELEN

Cecilia M., 60, Sacred Heart, Arkansas City, April 18. Survivors include sons James and Anthony; daughter Anastasia Copeland; brothers Rev. John and Harry Joe Stafford.

DENNE

George M., 74, Blessed Sacrament, Wichita, April 20. Survivors include wife Georgia; son John; daughter Carol Rotramel; brother Michael David.

KLENDA

Martin B., 94, St. John Nepomucene, Pilsen, April 19. Survivors include sons Dr. Martin, Ben, Joe, Patrick, Mark, Tom, David, John and Mike; daughters Mary Jo Dlabal, Sharon Hatfield and Susan Ragole.

RICHMOND

Robert F., 76, St. Mark, Marion, April 21. Survivors include sons Tom and Lee; daughters Janice Waner, Leona Hajek and Judy Phillips.

MOORE

Ruth V., 86, St. Anthony, Wellington, April 20. Survivors include sons Gary and Kevin; daughters Rebecca Newman and Leslie Luckhurst.

LINK

Phyllis M., 80, St. John, Iola, April 22. Survivors include husband Alfred; daughters Maria Kim Erb and Susan Kathleen Downey.

GIEFER

Michael L., 45, St. Francis, St. Paul, April 23. Survivors include wife Karrie; sons Brett, Brandon and Brice; daughters Breah and Jené; mother Sharon; father Richard; brothers Rick, Tom and Ron; sisters Sherry, Connie and Kim.

O’DONNELL

John L., 88, St. Thomas Aquinas, Wichita, April 22. Survivors include son Mike; sister Dorothy Conover.