Colleen Phair Hagen

Colleen Phair Hagen, 73, of Lester Park, passed away Sunday, July 27, 2008 in the Solvay Hospice House from Pancreatic cancer. She was born on March 1, 1935 in Oakland, Maine to Kenneth B and Evelyn Ham Phair and moved to Brunswick, Maine at the age of six. After graduating from Brunswick High School in 1953, she attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Mass., where she studied two years with Hungarian concert pianist, Miklos Schwalb. While there, she was soloist with the Portland (Maine) Junior Symphony Orchestra. She later transferred to the Yale University School of Music in New Haven, Conn., where she received her BMUS degree in applied piano performance and was a member of the professional fraternity Sigma Alpha Iota. While at Yale, she became interested in choral conducting and for the next several years dedicated herself to directing choirs and teaching piano from her home. Colleen married LTJG John C. Hagen in Brunswick, Maine on Aug. 1, 1959. They lived in Spain for five months before moving to Minneapolis and Duluth. She sang 33 years with the Duluth Superior Symphony Chorus and 11 years with the Duluth Opera Chorus. She also served three years as Membership Chairman for Matinee Musicale. She always enjoyed learning and later earned a secretarial certificate from the Duluth Area Vocational Technical Institute before becoming employed for several years by ISD 709 and Minnesota Power. While in her 50s, she completed the undergraduate courses in Choral Conducting at UMD and resumed her voice lessons. Next to her family, her greatest joy in life was communicating her love for the Lord through music. She was a member of Lincoln Park Community Church and the Auxiliary of the Gideon's International. She was preceded in death by her father, Kenneth and her aunt, Doris George. Besides her loving husband, John, she is survived by her mother, Evelyn Ham Phair of Brunswick, Maine; her children, Ellen (Dennis) Gunter of Crestview, Fla.; sons, David C. (Linda) Hagen of Duluth and Philip Hagen of Superior, Wis.; grandchildren, Shaun and Bonnie Gunter of Crestview, Fla., Samuel, Allison and Stephanie Hagen and Jacob Lockwood all of Duluth; three cousins, Marlene (Richard) Harris and Wayne (Peggy) Ham of Winslow, Maine and Selma Pulcifur of Oakland, Maine. VISITATION:5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday in Williams-Lobermeier Funeral Home and will continue from 10 a.m. until the 11 a.m. funeral service on Thursday, July 31, 2008 in the Lincoln Park Community Church, 2202 West 3rd St. Rev Paul VanCamp officiating. Burial at Forest Hill Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Lincoln Park Community Church or the Gideon's International would be appreciated. Arrangements by Williams-Lobermeier Funeral Home.


This obituary was originally published in the Duluth News Tribune.