Charles “Chuck” Stephen Hagen Sr., who in the 1960s and 1970s owned several Wisconsin weekly newspapers, was born on March 30, 1935, in Minneapolis, to John and Gertrude Hagen. At age 17, he 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, Chuck spent many years in the newspaper industry. He served as a reporter, editor and publisher of several western Wisconsin newspapers.
He purchased the Cornell Courier in 1966 and the Cadott Sentinel in 1971, meting the two newspapers into the Courier Sentinel, which he sold in 1974.
After briefly leaving newspapers to serve as a commercial printer, he returned to the industry. Chuck purchased The Colfax Messenger and The Boyceville Press-Reporter in 1975, but sold both publications the following year. He went on to own and operate several businesses, including the Midway Motel in Hallie, the Chippewa Hotel in Chippewa Falls, and the Desert Rose Laundromat in Camp Verde, Arizona.
Chuck died on March 21, 2022, at the age of 86. He was survived by two sons, Charlie and Scott; five stepdaughters, Susan, Dawn, Donna, Lisa and Barbara; and two stepsons, Kevin and Wayne.
