Bessie Hager

Funeral mass will be held Saturday, May 9 at St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church in Towner for Bessie Caroline Hager, 87, who died Sunday, May 3 at the Heart of America Long Term Care Center in Rugby.

Burial will be in the church cemetery at a later date.

Bessie was born March 29, 1922 in the home of her parents in Bantry, the daughter of Charlie “Beryl” and Essie (Harmon) Herman. She was raised in the rural Bantry home of her parents and received her education in the Towner public school, graduating from there in 1939. Following high school, she worked as a telephone operator for the Towner Telephone Company. On May 12, 1941 she married Clemans Hager at St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church in Towner. Following their marriage, the couple made their home in Towner. Bessie was the bookkeeper for her husband’s Mobil bulk oil business for 32 years and for eight years was a clerk at D’Heilly Clothing Store in Towner.

She was a member of St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church in Towner, where she had served on its parish council. She also enjoyed memberships in the Confraternity of Christian Mothers, the V.I.P. Senior Citizens, the VFW and American Legion auxiliaries. She was president of the North Dakota State VFW Auxiliary from 1969 to 1971. Clemans died March 1, 1993. Bessie continued living in Towner until November of 2005 when she moved to the long term care center.

She is survived by daughters, Veronica Haman, Rugby; Diane Luth, Salem, Ore.; Rosemary Armer, Billings, Mont.; and Deborah Zindler, Big Timber, Mont.; a son, Clemans Jr.; 20 grandchildren; 31 great-grandchildren; two sisters, Dorothy Lazier, Riverside, Calif., and Doris Kegel, Detroit Lakes, Minn.; a brother, Charlie Herman, Bismarck; and other relatives.

She was preceded in death by her husband; a daughter, Jocelyn McCabe; two grandchildren; a sister in infancy; and her parents.

Fr. Wenceslaus Katanga will officiate. Music will be provided by the St. Cecilia’s Music Ministry.

Casketbearers will be grandchildren, Pamela Throw, Brock and Nicholas Haman, Constance Murphy, Colleen Denson, Steven and Gregory Luth, Jill Brinkman, Lorne and James Armer, Tracy Denton, Jennifer Locke, Michelle Wood, Tobias McCabe, Megan Ottem, Alyssa McClellan, Clemans III, Christopher, Rachel and Rebecca Hager.

Arrangements by Anderson Funeral Home, Towner.