Richard A. Hagle

Richard (Rich) A. Hagle, 78, died at home Monday, February 10, after living with Parkinson's for more than a decade. His wife Ruth and his older son Matt were with him. Rich was born October 29, 1946, in Chicago to Richard V. and Geraldine (Peterson) Hagle. His father was in the insurance business and his mother quit her job as a telephone operator to be a stay-at-home mother. After his sister Kathy was born, when Rich--or Ricky as he was called then-was 8 they moved to Schiller Park.
Rich loved sports-especially basketball, baseball and bowling. He won trophies as a pitcher for his curve ball in Little League and was a star bowler in high school. He grew several inches in a short period of time when he was 15, and that rapid growth combined with the lack of restrictions on school sports led to joint problems that plagued him throughout his life.
Rich was a good student and worked hard, both at school and at part-time jobs. To earn money for college, he worked as a soda-jerk at the local drug store and jockeyed cars at O'Hare Airport. After graduating from St. Patrick High School in 1964, he attended Elmhurst College, receiving a B.A. in English Language and Literature (1968). He then transferred to Western Illinois in Macomb to work on a Master's degree, where he met his first wife Patricia (Pat) Condon.They married in 1970 and moved to Tucson where he attended the University of Arizona to continue working toward a combined Masters and PhD in English. After their first child Matthew was born, theymoved back to the Chicago area in 1972, where his daughter Mara and son Jesse were born.
Rich loved to teach and to write, and his first jobs were as an English Language and Composition Instructor at Western Illinois and the University of Arizona. Then he worked at Time (Life) magazine before he and his wife Pat established a full-service book and market development company in their Northfield home, providing writing, editing, design, typesetting, and marketing services. He had broad experience in publishing, including as Director of the Book Division of Crain Communications and then co-founded Commerce Communications, providing services for newsletter and book publishing focused on sales promotion and marketing. He also held positions as Executive Editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing, Dartnell Corporation, and NTC Publishing Group prior to establishing Racom Communications in 1998. Racom published more than 50 titles, most on advertising, marketing and business communications for the college and professional markets, written by educators and professionals well-known in their respective fields. There were alsosome outliers on subjects as varied as popcorn, coaching young athletes and real estate. He was active in and supported many professional organizations, including the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC); Chicago Association of Direct Marketing (CADM) and the Educational Foundation (CADMEF), serving on the Board for 6 years; and the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF) among others.
Hobbies? Work was his hobby, but he also loved to drive (especially old Lincoln Town Cars), and he had such an innate sense of direction that he rarely went the same way twice. He covered a good part of the country to attend conferences, often accompanied by his second wife Ruth after she retired. In 1998 he expanded his travel horizons when they went to Venice and Florence--Rich with an entire suitcase of books, which mercifully was never opened. They loved it so much, the very next year they went back with Ruth's sister Joan, and rented a car so they could see more of the countryside. It was a true adventure where Rich was the one with the most Italian vocabulary. Next was the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2000-mecca for a book publisher-which included visits to Munich and Vienna. The last European vacation was Paris in 2002.
The birth of the first grandchild in 2003 meant that there were more fun adventures coming up with excursions to Kiddieland, museums, the beach, etc. Rich loved babysitting the kids and would play Scrabble or video games with them, or watch TV shows together. Sometimes everyone would go for a gigantic dish of ice cream at Margie's Candies.
Rich was a big man in many ways, kind and gentle with a big heart, but he did not suffer fools gladly. Although the last few years provided many health challenges, Rich never lost his sense of humor, and bravely continued to maintain his independence.
Rich is survived by his wife Ruth Koval, his sister Kathy, his sons Matthew (Mio) and Jesse (Natalie), his daughter Mara Ventura (Scott), and five grandchildren Tara, Tristan, Ian, Heather and Elizabeth.
Interment will be private; a memorial service will be held at a later date.
Donations may be made to the Parkinson's Foundation.
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