Chicago Tribune, October 15, 2005, Saturday

Copyright 2005 Chicago Tribune Company
Chicago Tribune

October 15, 2005 Saturday
Chicago Final Edition

SECTION: OBITUARIES ; ZONE C; Pg. 22


HEADLINE: John Patrick O'Hagan;
1936-2005

BYLINE: By Patricia Trebe, Special to the Tribune

BODY:
In 21 years, John Patrick O'Hagan took the United Way of McHenry County from a small start-up organization to a wide-ranging agency that reached thousands of lives.
"The United Way of McHenry County would not have existed if not for John and the others back in the 1970s," said Dave Barber, executive director of the agency. "In John's time here, he impacted hundreds of thousands of McHenry County residents. This community is a far better community in which to live because of what he did while he was here."
One of the agency's earliest campaigns raised $100,000, but by the time Mr. O'Hagan left in 2001, fundraising reached the $2 million mark, Barber said.
"John was good at showing people that by making one contribution, you could actually benefit the community as a whole," he added. "Raising money is a part of what he did, but really where the rubber meets the road is getting the money to the agencies so the people who can't afford it on their own can actually benefit from it. And he did that."
Mr. O'Hagan, 69, died of cancer on Tuesday, Oct. 11, in his home in Davis, Ill., near Rockford.
"John was an outstanding United Way fundraiser," said Everett Jordan, retired major with the Salvation Army who worked with Mr. O'Hagan for 14 years.
Mr. O'Hagan always had the needs of the United Way agencies in his sights when he set out to raise funds, and through his success and leadership, he expanded the number of agencies and programs served, Jordan said. "It started with a handful, and now it is up to 20 different agencies," Jordan said.
Born in White Plains, N.Y., Mr. O'Hagan was raised in Eastchester, N.Y., where he graduated from high school. He attended Cornell University, where he received a bachelor of arts degree in industrial and labor relations in 1959. While in college he participated in the ROTC program and, after active duty, served in the reserves as a captain for several years.
He started his career at Continental Can Co. in Pittsburgh, but less than a year later he moved to Washington, D.C., to take courses at Georgetown University Law School.
From there he moved to Cincinnati and joined WLW Radio and Television, owned by AVCO Broadcasting, as personnel manager.
In 1968 he and his wife, Mary, whom he had married in 1963, moved to Crystal Lake when he became the personnel director and then manager of the Chicago architectural firm of Perkins and Will. Seven years later he opened his own firm, Human Resources Planning Associates, in Crystal Lake. In 1980 the United Way hired him to administer the office and agency through his company as an independent contractor.
Mr. O'Hagan followed his conscience throughout his life, his wife said.
"He did what he thought was right, whether it was acceptable to other people or not," his wife said. "He said what he meant and stuck to his guns."
Although Mr. O'Hagan was known professionally as steadfast yet charismatic, his reputation as a comedian was equally respected.
"He was hilarious," Barber said. "On the business side, he was purposeful and he knew why he was there. He did everything he could to raise as much as he could to benefit the community. But when you got him outside, he was the funniest guy you ever wanted to meet."
Mr. O'Hagan was a former one-term board member of McHenry County beginning in 1980 and was a Nunda Township trustee. He also had been on the boards of the Otter Creek Lake Utility District, Memorial Hospital for McHenry County, Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce, Amcore Bank NW and Bull Valley Countryside Association.
Four years ago, shortly after he retired at age 65, Mr. O'Hagan and his wife moved to Davis.
Other survivors include two sons, Jim and Pat; two daughters, Peg O'Haganand Beth Ryan; a brother, Bob; a sister, Elizabeth Murphy; and four grandchildren.
Visitation will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday in McCorkle Funeral Home, 101 Main St., Durand, Ill. Funeral services begin at 9 a.m. Monday in the funeral home followed by a 10:30 a.m. mass in St. Mary Catholic Church, 602 W. Main St., Durand.