VENICE, FL (February 16, 2011) – Services are pending for retired Evangelical Covenant Church pastor Franklin G. Hagberg, 84, who died Saturday night.
He was born September 10, 1926, to Levi and Ida Hagberg, who served as the first Covenant missionaries commissioned to serve in Latin America and the planters of the La Villa, Texas, church that is the oldest Hispanic congregation in the denomination.
He married Mercedes (Teedie) Anderegg on July 2, 1948. She preceded him in death.
Hagberg attended North Park Junior College and Houghton College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in English and Bible. He earned his ministry diploma from North Park Theological Seminary. This year marked the 50th anniversary of his ordination.
He served Covenant churches in Lyford, Texas; Warren and Russell, Pennsylvania; Venice, Florida; and the state hospital in Warren.
Survivors include five daughters: Becki Hagberg-Cohen, Debi Hagberg, Pam Grettenberger, Karen Yeversky, and Chris Hagberg; and a son, Brett Hagberg.
More information will be published as it becomes available.
Thank you Randy for your note about Frank’s gentle and wonderful mentoring of young Covenant pastors. I came out of seminary in 1984 without a clue of how to pastor… Frank was always there in his faithful ministry of Grace and Mercy. The Great Lakes conference pastoral meetings were a great support. There are many times I’ve needed to be encouraged to focus on the important issues rather then human structures. Frank had a wonderful gift to help ask questions to help me redirect my energy. I always felt that he understood me and could challenge me directly. Sounds like he did that to many people. Faithfulness, thanks be to God for the gift of our friend and brother.
One of Franks’ members lived in Renovo, Pa during the week and would go home to Margaret and Jim on the weekend. He often would strongly disagree with Frank; but he would always end his diatribe with the words,”Frankies alright”. and he was . he sure is now!!
Frank Hagberg also served as the Pastor of the Evanglical Covenant Church of Venice Isle, in Venice, FL. The records indicate he was the Pastor here May 1994 to 1996. I serve that church now and noticed this fact was not mentioned above. Members of the congregation also noted that this was not mentioned in the article. I seek to correct that. There are still some here who remember and thank God for his ministry and his friendship.
Editor’s note: the missing information has been added. Thank you for alerting us.
As a young pastor fresh out of NPTS in Warren, PA in 1980, I found myself being mentored by Frank Hagberg (Scandia Cov.) and David Vennberg (Sugar Grove Cov.). These two men of faith imparted their love for the people of their congregations and their commitment to Christ in a way that greatly shaped the direction my ministry would unfold. As we would travel together to district and conference events, they each shared insights on ministry that greatly helped me focus on following God’s call rather than furthering a “career.” Neither ever pastored a large congregation but they served the Lord in all they did. And they gave of themselves to a series of first-call pastors in the area to help us grow and mature not only in our ministries but also in our personal faith.