7/28/1935 – 9/12/2025
Lawrence
Charles N. Hagen, Jr., 90, of Lawrence, KS, died September 12. “Chuck” Hagen was born July 28, 1935, in Topeka, the son of Charles N. Hagen, Sr., and Esther Emmaline Hagen. He was raised in North Topeka, spending summers at his grandparents’ farm in Pomona. He graduated from Berryton High School in 1953.
After graduation Chuck worked at Color Press in Lawrence. He served in the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1961 as a radar operator at a Nike missile battery in Herndon, VA. He met Kathleen “Kathy” Sullivan, the love of his life, in 1957 and they were wed May 31, 1959. Returning from military service, Chuck rejoined the Railway Postal Service, delivering mail across the Midwest. After the demise of the railway service, he went on to the Jayhawk Postal Station in Lawrence, where he was a supervisor for more than 20 years.
In retirement Chuck ran a flower business with Kathy. Their booth was a fixture at the Lawrence farmers’ market for more than 20 years. Chuck was an elder and treasurer at Westside Presbyterian Church in Lawrence. He loved to tend his garden, visit national parks in the Rockies, and spend time with his family.
Chuck is survived by his wife, Kathy; four children–Esther Wisdom and her husband, Alan, of Falls Church, VA; Charles A. “Charlie” King Hagen and his wife, Laura, of Overland Park, KS; Kathleen J. “Kathy” Hagen and her husband, Tom Kappelmann, of Lenexa, KS; and Beth Key and her husband, Brian, of League City, TX—as well as his brother, Howard Hagen, and wife, Linda, of Olathe, KS; and his sister, Esther Stiers, and her husband, Fred, of Roundup, MT. One of Chuck’s proudest achievements was seeing all four children graduate from college. Chuck and Kathy have seven grandchildren.
A funeral service for Chuck Hagen will be held 11:00 a.m., Saturday, September 20, 2025, at Warren-McElwain Mortuary, 120 W. 13th Street, Lawrence, KS 66044, with visitation starting at 9:00 a.m. that morning. Burial will take place at Memorial Park Cemetery, 1517 E. 15th Street, Lawrence, KS 66044.
In lieu of flowers, please send memorial gifts to West Side Presbyterian Church, 1024 Kasold Drive, Lawrence, KS 66049.
For more information or to post a condolence, go to warrenmcelwain.com.
Note: The Lawrence Times is offering Lawrence and Douglas County community members space to publish remembrances of loved ones who lived in this community, free of charge. These pieces are submitted by family and friends of the deceased and not written by our staff. Photos are also provided to the publication, and some may have been altered prior to submission. Read more obituaries here.
We are honored to be able to offer this service free to community members in mourning. We believe the last thing our neighbors need in those difficult moments is another financial matter to worry about. Please support the Times to help us continue providing this service — and news access — for all.
To submit an obituary to The Lawrence Times, please fill out the form at this link. We’re sorry, but we cannot accept obituary submissions via email or other means.
Receive obituaries via email
As of May 2026, we are launching a newsletter that will include obituaries only. Obituaries will no longer appear in our daily emails. You can sign up below to receive any and all of our emails. If you already receive our daily, weekly and/or occasional emails and you want to keep receiving them, please check those boxes as well.
Please make sure you click on the button that says “Yes, subscribe me to this list” in the email you receive or you will not receive future emails. That extra step is to protect you and make sure you’re not getting emails you don’t want.
