Mary Katherine Hagan

Mary Katherine (MacDonald) Hagan, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed away peacefully on March 30, 2023, at age 90 from a stroke. She was surrounded by her loving family, who will miss her deeply.
Mary's parents were Agus Joseph and Marguerite Mary (LaBelle) MacDonald who were born, raised & married in DeTour Village, MI. Her parents ultimately moved to Chicago, IL, which was where Mary, their fourth child, was born. Due to the untimely death of her mother, Mary, at the age of two, began spending summers with loving relatives - Emma & Hugh MacDonald, Clare & Jim MacDonald, Rob and Pauleen MacDonald among others - in DeTour. She went to boarding school at St. Mary's in Prairie du Chien, WI, from kindergarten through 12th grade.
Mary worked as a switchboard operator in Chicago before marrying Robert Emmett Hagan, with whom she shared 58 years of marriage until his death in 2009. Together, they raised four children. Bob was an officer in the military which offered Mary great experiences and challenges, including travel all over the US and Europe. She also had to endure the fear and worry for Bob's safety when he did two tours of duty in Vietnam. During Bob's hazardous deployments, Mary would return to DeTour to be with her support group.
At the age of 35, when all her children were in school, she attended college at Lake Superior State College where she graduated Magna Cum Laude, with a degree in education. Mary followed in her mother's footsteps by teaching school in DeTour, some 50 years after her mother had. Later, Mary, along with her husband Bob, contracted with the Army to run a media-based learning center at Fort Sheridan Army Base in Chicago. Finally, in 1980, the couple retired to their home on Caribou Lake outside of DeTour.
Many of Mary's friends and relatives will remember her for her beautiful singing voice, which was enhanced by eight years of voice lessons while in boarding school. She sang at community events and church. She was an active member of the altar society at Sacred Heart Church and cantered at mass for years; she also sang at a multitude of weddings and funerals. Mary's greatest thrill was singing in Mainz Cathedral (St. Martin's Cathedral) in Mainz, Germany, where Bob and family were assigned for four years.
Mary stayed busy as a retiree. She was a member of the DeTour Community Chorus; she performed in several of the plays put on by the EUP Fine Arts Council; she would always make her homemade rhubarb pies for the church bake sales; she volunteered and donated several items to the DeTour Passage Historical Museum; she also was a living source of DeTour Village history. If you had any questions about the people who had lived in DeTour, you would ask Mary. She could remember the town's lineage.
Mary's legacy will live on through the countless lives she touched. Her presence will be deeply missed, but her memory will live on in the hearts of all who knew her.
Mary is survived by her children; Deborah (Mick) McGuire, Michael (Sharon) Hagan, Kevin (Sheila) Hagan; grandchildren, Jennifer Aton, Kevin J. Gschwind, Chaney Hagan, Shaun Hagan, Ashley Adams, Katherine Hagan, Ryan Hagan; twelve wonderful great grandchildren; and sister, Nancy Pressney.
Mary was preceded in death by her beloved husband Bob and daughter Bonnie, brother John Leo MacDonald, and sister Marguerite Mary Upshaw-Guesno.
Mary's Memorial Mass Service at Saint Anne Catholic Church in Ruskin, Florida can be viewed until July 10, 2023, at https:''saintanneruskin.org/hagan.
Mary will be interred next to her husband and daughter in Maple Grove Cemetery in DeTour Township.
Galer Funeral Homes & Cremation of Pickford, Michigan, is serving the family. Condolences may be left to the family at www.galerfuneralhomes.com.
Obituary as submitted by family.