The passing of Dorothy Mae (McCoy) Hagen – one of God’s kindest, most caring creations – brings to a close a sweet life spanning nearly 102 years and the end of her generation of family. She passed away peacefully in sleep on February 9, surrounded by the love of the family to whom she devoted her life.

Dorothy was born in Utica, Illinois on March 29, 1914 to Arthur McCoy and Karen (Rasmussen) McCoy – the youngest of the couple’s three children. As a teenager, Dorothy’s mother (Karen Rasmussen) immigrated from a small town in Denmark to the United States, where she later met and married Arthur.

For a young couple with a family to support so many years ago, times were very tough. Arthur worked in a sawmill, and “Grandma McCoy” (as she would often be called years later) cooked for the mill crew while raising three young children. In 1919, when Dorothy was five years old, her uncle, who lived in Hood River, convinced her parents to head west. And so they did. Dorothy became a Hood River Valley resident, where she spent the remaining 96 years of her life.

At the sweet young age of 14, Dorothy began sorting fruit for the Apple Growers Association in Odell. Two years later, she was taught how to pack by her uncle (Howard McCoy), who worked there as a machine boss. Little did Dorothy know she would continue to pack pears, apples and cherries for the next four-plus decades, reaching a very well-deserved retirement after 47 years in the fruit industry.

Dorothy graduated from Odell High School in 1932 and, three years later, married the love of her life, Frank Hagen. Two daughters – Karen Marie and Betty Jeanne - were born to the couple, whose lives were completely devoted to loving, raising and guiding their children.

Both Dorothy and Frank were most certainly born with green thumbs! Anyone who knew them would remember the impeccably neat and beautiful flowers, lawns and gardens at their “new” house (built in 1958 on Odell Highway just half a mile from the “old” one). It was a familiar sight to see Dorothy kneeling on her foam rubber kneepad pulling every weed in sight, while Frank mowed and pruned – one hand constantly waving as friends drove by and honked their horns.

During Dorothy’s working and child-raising years, she decided to learn how to bowl. She never could ride a bicycle, but she learned to throw a bowling ball! Frank was already on a team for Hanel Lumber Company at Orchard Lanes; so she had a great teacher, and they both bowled in leagues for years.

Frank also taught Dorothy how to drive a car back in the days when automobiles came with a crank. Let’s just say the first driving lesson didn’t exactly go as planned! But Dorothy soon became an excellent driver and cruised through life without a single citation.

In 2003, Dorothy and Frank (89 and 92) decided it was time to downsize, sold the home built by Ben Kusisto and Frank that they loved so much, and moved to Hawks Ridge. Four months later, Frank slipped away peacefully and quietly in his sleep. The following year, Dorothy moved to Down Manor, where she thoroughly enjoyed her garden spot (the prettiest one there, of course!), renewing old friendships and making new ones.

Dorothy was preceded in death by Frank, her husband of 68 years, her mother and father, sister Vera (McCoy) Gregg and brother Addison McCoy. She is survived by her daughters Karen (Hagen) Willey and Bill, and Betty (Hagen) Osborne and Kurt; five granddaughters - Tina (Willey) Marsh and son Derek, Melissa Willey and son Jacob, Amanda (Willey) Stonewall and Kevin, Lisa (Muma) Lessner and Todd and children Logan and Lucy, Jackie (Muma) Moe and Dwight, as well as nephews John Gregg, Charles McCoy, Jim McCoy, their families, and a host of other friends and family members.

Service for Dorothy will be held on Thursday, February 18, 11AM at Anderson’s Tribute Center; interment at Idlewilde Cemetery mausoleum. Contributions in Dorothy’s memory may be made to Wy’east Volunteer Fire Department & EMS, P.O. Box 56, Odell, OR 97044.

Arrangements are under the direction of Anderson's Tribute Center (Funerals • Receptions • Cremations) 1401 Belmont Avenue, Hood River, Oregon 97031.
Please visit www.AndersonsTributeCenter.com to leave a note of condolence for the family.