September 22, 1927 - October 22, 2021
James ”Bill” Bryan Hagan, age 94, passed away on Friday, October 22 in Stockton. He was happily married to Norma Oliva Hagan for 74 years. He was born in Bransville, MO to James and Stella Hagan, the youngest of 4 children. The family moved to Lodi, CA and eventually Stockton, where he graduated from Stockton High School. After graduation, he began his 66 year career as a machinist in the automotive industry, from which he retired in 2013.
Following high school, he also began building and racing Midget cars with a small group of friends. It was a time he always remembered as happy, if not successful. If asked, “did you win a lot of races?”, he would just smile, laugh and say “No!”.
In the 1960s, he and the family moved to their Waterloo/Morada property and began tending his walnut orchard, a pastime he enjoyed throughout his life.
Over the years he spent his free time hunting, fixing the family’s beloved tractor, and working on cars. One of his favorite ways to spend a day was covered in grease under a walnut tree sharing his knowledge and love of working on cars with his son and grandsons,
On any given day, you could find Bill in the stands watching his grandchildren and later his great-grandchildren as they played sports and participated in school events.
He leaves behind a legacy of love and family.
He is survived by wife Norma, children John and Jamie(Bob), grandchildren Shannon, Elizabeth(Matthew), Blaine(Natalie), Brandon(Christianne), Matthew(Corinne), and great-grandchildren Presley, Rosey, Blythe, Brynnlyn, Barron, Harper, Alivia, and Caden. He is preceded in death by siblings Ernestine “Chrissy”, Geraldine “Gypsy”, Juneifer “Jynx” and grandson Bryan.
SERVICES:
Services for James will be held on Friday, November 5, 2021 at 1:00pm at the Evergreen Chapel at Cherokee Memorial Cemetery, located at Harney Lane and Highway 99 in Lodi, California.
Memorials may be made to Hospice of San Joaquin County.
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Cherokee Memorial is honored to serve the Hagan family.