Leslie Joan Hagen, age 76, a resident of Hoquiam, died on Nov. 1, 2024, at Harbor Regional Hospital in Aberdeen after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Mrs. Hagen was born on April 26, 1948, in Aberdeen to Bernice and Clendon Richie. The family moved to the Wishkah Valley when she was 10 years old. She graduated from Weatherwax High School in 1966. She would later attend Grays Harbor College.
On April 21, 1967, she and Ron W. Hagen were married in Aberdeen. The couple made their home in Aberdeen until moving to the Humptulips area where they lived until 1991. They then moved to Leslie’s dream home, a beautiful river-front home located in the Wishkah Valley, then finally settling in Hoquiam in 2019.
Leslie spent most of her life as a homemaker, but also worked in banking and as a realtor for several companies, including Ted Brower Realty and First Harbor Real Estate. She excelled at everything she did, but preferred being a homemaker and pursuing many creative pursuits and volunteering.
Her favorite creative pursuits were stained glass and gardening. She was very proud that her uncredited stained-glass work would always be on public display at the Hoquiam Timberland Library. She finished some of the windows when her friend in the stained-glass community, the credited artist, was short on time. Her family has many pieces of her work to remember her by as she loved to make special pieces for individuals as gifts.
While living in the Wishkah Valley after her children had grown, gardening was an interest that she shared with her mother, and now her daughter. She maintained an acre of perennial and annual landscaping including riverfront, a waterfall and stream. She grew her own annuals in her greenhouse. She also loved to travel. Her favorite trips include visiting her mother’s homeland, Poland, with her mother, also France, Africa, Mexico, Jamaica, and Hawaii. She had a lifelong love of animals, and volunteered for 9 years weekly at PAWS until her health prevented it.
In addition to her husband Ron, surviving relatives include a son, Trevor Hagen (Renee) of Hoquiam; a daughter, Tonja Hummel (Kevin) of North Bend; three grandchildren, Anna Hagen of Seattle, Austin (Rachel) Hagen of Hoquiam and Phoebe Hummel of North Bend; two brothers, Bruce Niemi (Tonya) of Aberdeen and Danny Richie (Shirley) of Wishkah Valley, and a stepsister, Verna (Don) Frickel of Humptulips.
Her parents, Clendon Richie and Bernice Niemi, stepfather Vernon Niemi, stepbrother Gary (Kay) Niemi and a brother, Neal Richie, preceded her in death.
There will be a visitation at the Coleman Mortuary on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 14 and 15 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at St. John’s Cemetery in the Wishkah Valley. A reception will follow at the Wishkah Valley Church.
Please record your thoughts for the family by signing the online register at www.colemanmortuary. net.
