Jane Hagedorn

Jane Hagedorn died on April 5, 2024 at the age of 79 after a long battle with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP). She taught high school history, served as a legal secretary/assistant with the Minnesota Attorney General for 20 years, served as a substitute teacher, and devoted herself as a marriage partner in raising 3 children, supporting them through college and beyond.

Jane was a gentle, compassionate, forgiving, hopeful, and fair minded marriage partner, soulmate, mom, grandma, colleague, sister, and friend. She inspired others to be hopeful throughout her life.

Jane was a quiet force behind many memorable family gatherings, celebrations and vacations. As the oldest child in her family, with natural maternal gifts, Jane modeled as a mom, supporting and encouraging her younger siblings as they entered adulthood and began raising their own families.

In retirement Jane took up picture framing. She framed works of art, prints and photographs for friends, family and fundraising events. Her projects were a labor of love and a way for her to honor the work and treasures of others and simply give joy. Throughout her adult life Jane also enjoyed theater, displaying her own acting skills in college and community theater productions. Until her struggle with PSP intensified she was an active member of Saint Paul Reformation Lutheran Church, serving and volunteering in a range of capacities over the years.

Jane is survived by: her husband, Michael Hagedorn; her children, Timothy Hagedorn (and Hildi), Joseph Hagedorn (and Hau) , and Mara Badilla (and Conrado); her grandchildren, Carter Hagedorn, Leila Hagedorn, Cole Hagedorn, Roland Hagedorn, Sebastian Badilla, Hendrick Hagedorn, Matias Badilla, and Charlize Badilla; her siblings, Kathryn Den Houter, Benjamin Vander Kooi, Ann Vermeer, and Sue Terhune; and many nieces and nephews.

Memorial service to be held 1:00 p.m. Saturday, April 20, 2024 at St. Paul-

Reformation Lutheran Church, 100 Oxford St. N. in St. Paul. Visitation is one hour prior to service at the church. In lieu of flowers, memorials in Jane's honor can be made to CUREPSP INC. and St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church.

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Jane was born on May 15, 1944. She grew up in Luverne, Minnesota. She graduated from Calvin College in 1966. She went on to teach high school history, serve as a secretary/legal assistant with the Minnesota Attorney General for 20 years, substitute teach, and devote herself as a marriage partner to raising 3 children, Tim, Joe and Mara, supporting them through college and beyond. After helping to support Mike through law school, Jane devoted herself from 1969 to 1980 to raising three children, occasionally substitute teaching, as Mike pursued his legal career. In 1980 Jane began a 20 year public service career, working as a legal secretary/assistant with the Minnesota Attorney General.

Jane was a gentle, compassionate, forgiving, hopeful, and fair minded marriage partner, soul mate, mom, grandma, friend and colleague. She was driven by a spirit of hopefulness, inspiring others to be hopeful throughout her life. She was committed to social justice and fair and equal opportunity for persons and groups historically denied such opportunities and otherwise disadvantaged. Throughout her adult life she was active in the Democratic Farmer Labor Party. Jane was also an active member of the Saint Paul Chapter of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). As a member she took particular joy in helping to award much needed AAUW college scholarships to women of color experiencing financial hardships.

Jane was the quiet force behind many memorable family gatherings, celebrations and vacations. She hosted regular Sunday family dinners, which became something of a tradition over the years. Grandchildren/cousins came together. Children at times came with friends. And often lively discussions on issues of the day ensued. Growing up as the oldest child in her family with natural maternal gifts, Jane was a model mom, supporting and encouraging her younger siblings as they entered adulthood and began raising their own families.

To Mara, Jane embodied the word "MOTHER." She remembers Jane as a multi-tasker who loved unconditionally, led by example, put others before herself, was a maker and keeper of life-long memories, was loving, nurturing, caring and devoted, was deeply loved and admired, one who saw the best in her children and grandchildren, and one who had the most rewarding job in the world.

Joe fondly remembers the book Jane read to him as a child by Shel Silverstein titled The Giving Tree: "Every day the boy would come to the tree to eat her apples, swing from her branches, or slide down her trunk...and the tree was happy. But as the boy grew older he began to want more from the tree, and the tree gave and gave." Joe thinks of his mom as the tree that continued to give throughout her life to him, her family, friends, colleagues and others.

Tim recalls Jane's broad ranging creative spirit. In retirement, Jane framed works of art, prints and photographs for friends, family, fellow church members, work colleagues and fundraising events. Her framing projects were a labor of love and a way for her to honor the work and artistic treasures of others and simply give joy. In addition to honoring the work of others, Jane's creativity showed through every picture she framed. The careful contemplation of the framing material, be it burled wood to make one of her children's college degrees look particularly sophisticated, or perhaps a lightweight plastic textured frame for a large world map. Matte colors were always unique and carefully contemplated to highlight the colors and textures of the image within.

Jane also demonstrated her creativity as an actor in college and community theater. In community theater she delivered a passionate and memorable performance as Willy Loman's wife (Linda) in Death of a Salesman. For anyone who saw the play at the Luverne Palace Theater, her rendition of the long suffering Linda Loman is hard to forget. She had a special gift for understanding and empathizing with others that made her a natural actor.

Yet another dimension of Jane's creativity was her ability to sew anything you could possibly want or need, such as upholstery covering, curtains, and Halloween costumes, including a "ninja"costume specially requested by Tim. A favorite story of Tim recalls Jane's creativity taking on a somewhat different look. Arriving at the bank with two young kids, one in a stroller, Jane found the lobby closed but the drive-thru open. Undeterred, she proceeded to wheel the stroller through the drive-thru, making a creative and convincing argument that she was driving a vehicle and had a right to be served.

Until Jane's struggle with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) intensified, she was an active member of Saint Paul Reformation Lutheran Church (SPR) serving and volunteering in a range of capacities over the years. As her battle with PSP progressed she was blessed with the love and support of members of the SPR community.

Jane is survived by: her husband, Michael; her children, Timothy (and Hildi), Joseph (and Hau) , and Mara Badilla (and Conrado); her grandchildren, Carter, Leila, Cole, Roland, Sebastian, Hendrick, Matias, and Charlize; her siblings, Kathryn, Benjamin, Ann, and Sue, and many nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, memorials in Jane's honor can be made to CUREPSP INC. and St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church.