The Centerville High School Distinguished Alumni award for 2009 will be presented to John Hagan, a graduate of the CHS Class of 1954, at the October 2009 Homecoming Chapel.

Many will attest that John was one of the most popular and respected high school students in Centerville, both among fellow students and adults as well. After completing his formal education, John went on to roles of leadership in the business world, and particularly in the telecommunications industry, and in lending a caring and helping hand to others. Through all the years he has retained a genuinely warm and engaging personality, highly-placed and zealously-pursued ideals, and a deep loyalty to Centerville and its high school.

John was born in Milan, Mo., where his father, Bert, was employed by the C.B.&Q.; (the "Burlington") Railroad. John's father was promoted to assistant superintendent of the Burlington Railroad in 1945, which required the family's move to Centerville. Bert Hagan came from a family of 13 children. He suffered the loss of one leg in a train accident at 25 but worked for the Burlington for another 45 years, retiring from the railroad after more than 50 years.

John's mother, Cleo, was a descendant of families who had resided in Sullivan County, Mo., for several generations. One of her grandfathers survived 33 Civil War battles as a cavalryman. Cleo attended college and was an educator. John's sister, Gladys Lou Wright, a 1948 CHS graduate, and him were the products of an honest, hard-working ancestry. They received a great deal of love and encouragement not only from their parents but also from their grandfather, David Harper McCully (Cleo Hagan's father), Bert Hagan's many brothers and sisters and their families, their aunt Gladys Atherton (Cleo Hagan's only sibling), and their aunt Gladys's husband, Leman Atherton, who practiced law in Milan for more than 70 years.

While growing up in Centerville, John attended Central Ward School, Washington Junior High School and Centerville High School. During his schooling at Centerville High School, he was president of his junior and senior classes, president of the student council, a varsity basketball and football player, a cornet player in the band and a singer in the CHS mixed chorus and boys' glee club. His favorite high school subjects were mathematics and English, and basketball was his favorite competitive sport.

John began to play the cornet while in the third grade in Milan, Mo. By the time he reached the ninth grade, playing the cornet had become a passion for him. He became the first-chair cornet player in the CHS band and performed cornet solos in state high school music contests, where he succeeded in winning Division I ratings.

Mark Kelly, then the band director at CHS, arranged for John to audition for the University of Iowa's director of bands, Fred Ebbs, when the CHS band performed at the Iowa State Fair in the summer of 1954. This resulted in John being awarded a music scholarship at the University of Iowa, which helped to defray some of his college expenses. He proceeded to serve as a member of the university's band.

John observes: "Small town Iowa in the early 1950s was for most of us a time to listen and to be grateful for the mentors who were interested in not only our individual conduct but in the reputation of the town as well." John identifies a number of educators who had a favorable impact on his life. They include Superintendent E. W. Fannon; Misses Sandstrom and Clarke at Central Ward; Miss Farnsworth and Mr. Howar at Washington Junior High; and, at Centerville High School, Principal (later Superintendent) Carl Miles, Principal Gregerson, band directors Mark Kelly and Robert Donaldson, vocal music director Donald Gunderson, basketball coach Jack Edling, and teachers Amy Wright, R. Pearl Goldsberry, C. J. Hart, and Jean Foote. Members of the Centerville community who provided inspiration to him included Chi Wooden, Bob Malmberg, George Milani, Jim Milani, Joe Louis, Bob Beck, Francis Conner and Jim Shanks.

John married one of his former high school classmates, Karleen Fischer, almost 52 years ago. John says, "From the very first time that I looked into her eyes, I saw character, understanding, integrity and a sense of humor." Although they were friends throughout their high school years, John and Karleen did not begin to date until the summer of 1954, following their graduation from CHS. Karleen's parents were the late Karl and Monica Fischer, who farmed south of Moravia and there raised Karleen and her sister, Beverly. Karl was in the concrete pipe business for more than 40 years with the Cretex Companies, Inc. During his career, he served as president of three Cretex affiliates — Iowa Concrete Products, South Dakota Concrete Products and North Dakota Concrete Products.

John received his Bachelor of Arts degree, with a major in public relations in the School of Journalism, from the University of Iowa in 1958. Karleen, following her graduation from Centerville Junior College, attended and graduated from the University of Iowa, and was an educator by training and in her employment for several years following college.

In his initial year at the University of Iowa, John was a member of both the freshman basketball and freshman baseball squads. While still in college, he became enrolled in the Marine Platoon Leader's Class and went through two summer training sessions at Quantico, Vir. He was one of 10 percent of the candidates who made the cut for flight school. When the Marines increased the minimum active duty tour to five years for aviators, John opted to serve the balance of his enlistment in the Marine Corps Reserve, since by that time he and Karleen were married and their first child was expected. He received his honorable discharge from the Marine Corps Reserve in 1961.

After completing their college educations, John and Karleen moved nine times in a 10-year period while he was employed in management by Northwestern Bell Telephone Company. He then served for 14 years as president of Waukesha Concrete Products and Cretex Plastics, subsidiaries of the Cretex Companies, Inc., of Milwaukee, Wis.

John was destined then to return to the telecommunications industry, where he discharged several important leadership roles. He served as general manager for U.S. West Information Systems, Inc., in Minneapolis, where he was responsible for marketing and servicing telephone and data products to businesses throughout Minnesota and North Dakota. He later served successively in Minneapolis as national account manager, division manager, and national accounts director for Telecom USA. In the latter capacity he was responsible for sales of long-distance services in eight states. Later, while in Minneapolis-St. Paul, he served as executive national accounts manager for MCI and then served as an MCI senior sales manager in its government accounts group, with considerable success in winning large national accounts and major government contracts. He subsequently became the director of major accounts for McLeod, Inc. in Cedar Rapids. While with McLeod, he was a principal builder and key management person in the implementation of the strategic marketing plan for the McLeod TeleManagement Organization and built six branches within that organization. He received high honors and recognitions in the telecommunications enterprises in which he served for his achievements in sales and marketing and in operations. At one point earlier in his career, he founded and served as president of Watson Communications, Inc., of Robbinsdale, Minn., and later negotiated its sale.

The Hagans have two daughters, Jody Svitak of Silverthorne, Colo. and Jamie Hagan of Edina, Minn. The Svitaks have two grown children, Matthew and Courtney. Jamie's son, John Thomas Petters, was an unfortunate murder victim in Florence, Italy in 2004 while he was a visiting student from Miami University of Ohio. Jamie's daughter, Jennifer Jamie Petters, resides in Winter Park, Fla.

The Hagans and their two daughters have found great satisfaction through the years in private acts of service to others. John and Karleen have also had public involvement in civic and charitable endeavors. In his earlier years he engaged in fund-raising efforts on behalf of United Way, as an advisor in the Junior Achievement Program and as a Sunday School teacher for junior high and high-school age children. More recently, on behalf of a charity known as Collier Harvest, John and Karleen have picked up and delivered food from merchants to organizations such as the Salvation Army, homeless shelters and day-care centers. John and Karleen have also been active in service on various committees of, and in fundraising for, the Neighborhood Health Center in Naples, Fla., where physicians donate their time and services to caring for persons who lack funds or insurance to provide for their own medical care.

Several years ago, he and Karleen made a substantial gift to the Centerville Schools Foundation in memory of his parents and Karleen's parents, the income from which funds two $2,500 college scholarships each year for deserving Centerville High School graduates.

John and Karleen presently maintain homes in Edina, Minn. and Naples, Fla. When asked to rank his priorities in life, not surprisingly John responded, "God, my family, and then all other interests." Speaking of Karleen, John says: "Perhaps the greatest compliment I can pay her is that she has been my rock. Whatever I am or will be, she has made me a better person throughout our relationship."

John's roots as a leader, a warm, kind, and selfless man, and a person of high integrity, were shaped by loving, supportive and inspirational parents. His qualities in these respects have only been enhanced by the support and devotion of his wife and children. He has shouldered admirably his parents' charge to believe in a loving and forgiving God, to do the right thing, to see all goals as attainable, to be a man, and to avoid any temptation toward shortcuts. In doing so, he has excelled on many fronts and has well earned the Distinguished Alumni of Centerville High School Award.