John Stewart Hagestad

John Stewart Hagestad

Services: Friday, July 19, 2 p.m.

A longtime resident of Bakersfield, died on Saturday, July 13, 2002 at the age of 93 years. He was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota on July 24, 1908. At an early age, he moved together with his family to Santa Cruz, CA, where he lived through high school. Upon graduation from high school he attended Pomona College where he earned a degree in Geology, graduating in 1931. While at Pomona he was a three-sport letterman, earning letters in football, basketball, and baseball. Upon graduating from Pomona, John attended the University of Southern California, earning a Masters Degree in Petroleum Engineering. After college he went to work for Union Oil Company, specializing in developing increased production from marginal oil wells. During WWII, he served as a naval officer, specializing in Petroleum Exploration, spending two years in Point Barrow, Alaska. The work that John and his team performed in Alaska eventually lead to the discovery of oil in Prudoe Bay during the 1970s. After finishing his military service, he returned to Bakersfield and established Hagestad Drilling Company, an independent drilling contractor. From 1947 through 1968, it was one of the largest independent drilling operations in California, performing drilling services all over the state. In 1963 he, together with other business leaders in Bakersfield formed American National Bank, which was eventually acquired by Wells Fargo Bank. Stew, as his friends knew him, was a skilled pilot and an avid sport fisherman. He traveled all around the world pursuing his passion of big-game fishing. After his retirement from the drilling business in 1968, he divided his time between Bakersfield and Catalina Island. During 1998 in appreciation for all that Pomona College afforded him, he established the John S. Hagestad Endowment Fund, to provide financial aid to students majoring in Geology or other natural sciences.

He is preceded in death by his first wife, Imogene Hagestad and a daughter, Jana Frances Hagestad. He is survived by his wife, Kathryn Hagestad and his two children, Brooks Rooney and John Hagestad Jr.; his six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Memorial services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, July 19, 2002 at St. Pauls Episcopal Church, 2216 17th Street, Bakersfield, CA.

Parent-Sorensen Mortuary & Crematory

(707) 829-5433