Charles “Chuck” Stephen Hagen, Sr., who in the 1960s and 1970s owned several Wisconsin weekly newspapers, died Monday, March 21, at his home in Chippewa Falls. He was 86.
Born March 30, 1935, in Minneapolis, he was the son of John and Gertrude Hagen. At age 17, Hagen enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in the Korean War.
After working as a farmer in rural Bloomer during his early adult life, Hagen spent many years in the newspaper industry. He served as a reporter, editor and publisher of several western Wisconsin newspapers throughout his career.
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Hagen, along with his then-wife Lorraine, purchased his first newspaper in 1966, the Cornell Courier. They added the Cadott Sentinel in 1971 and merged the two newspapers. They sold the Courier Sentinel in July 1974, when Hagen briefly left the newspaper industry to work for a commercial printer in the Twin Cities area.
He got back into newspapers in 1975, purchasing The Colfax Messenger from Lyle Christianson in January and adding The Boyceville Press-Reporter in June. By the following year, the Hagens sold both newspapers to Christianson.
After leaving the newspaper industry, Hagen owned and operated several businesses, including the Midway Motel in Hallie, the Chippewa Hotel in Chippewa Falls, and the Desert Rose Laundromat in Camp Verde, Ariz.
Hagen married Helen Zwiefelhofer on Aug. 15, 1992. He had two sons — Charlie and Scott — five stepdaughters, two stepsons, and numerous grandchildren and great-children.
A memorial Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, April 29, at Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Chippewa Falls.
