Benjamin Franklin Hagler III

Benjamin Franklin Hagler, III

Benjamin passed away on Friday morning, September 26, 2025 . He entered life a child of Benjamin F. Hagler, II and Mary Ethel Reynolds. He was delivered by Dr. Boone on Easter Sunday April 5, 1931, at his parents’ home on Walnut Street in Erin, Tennessee. He is preceded in death by both his parents and five sisters: Evelyn Alsobrooks, Lila McElroy, Annie Williams, Dorothy Taylor, and Betty Gooch.

He leaves behind his first wife, Barbara Berry; daughters Laura Beth Colombini and husband Robert, and Marta Jo Hagler and husband Robert Hrutkay; grandson Michael Colombini and his wife Jennifer and children Brody and Canning ; and granddaughter Erica Colombini and husband Jason Roszkowski and son Joseph. In addition, Ben has several nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews.

Ben graduated from University of Detroit in Michigan with a degree in Business and became an executive at ATT where he worked for many years out of New York City. He served four years in the Air Force, deployed to Morocco, and was based at Lake Charles Air Force Base in Louisiana. He was an avid pilot and sailor. He served in the Civil Air Patrol for three years and served in the Tennessee National Guard for six years.

Ben was active in his community, serving in his church and helping others. He was the President of the Village Players, a large acting group for many years. He helped build schools in Germany and Mexico. He enjoyed traveling and visited every state and every national park in the US. He toured Europe, Canada, and Mexico and drove to Alaska. He walked across sixty-seven bridges over rivers. He was a long-time member of the Lions Club, serving in various positions and capacities and was proud to be responsible for the weekly trivia questions. He was friends with many people, and he recorded the name, date and place of everyone he ever met. His last entry on this list was number 5,147.

Visiting hours for family and friends will be at Nave Funeral Home on Friday, October 3 at 10 am. Graveside services will be at 11 am at the Hagler Cemetery on Old Stagecoach Lane where full military honors will be rendered. Ben will rest in peace in the same cemetery where his grandfather Benjamin Hagler was buried in 1893. Following the service, family and friends are invited to a luncheon at the Erin Methodist Church on Walnut Street.

Arrangements are in the care of Nave Funeral Home, (931) 289-4277, NaveFuneralomes.com.