In Memoriam: Henry George Hager III (1934-2024)
Henry George Hager III, former member of the Lycoming Law Association and state senator, died June 27, 2024. He was 90 years old.
Obituary:
HENRY G. HAGER, 3RD, died June 27 after a brief hospital stay near his home in Fort Myers, Florida. He died peacefully and in the company of his daughters Hannah and Eleanor, and his dear friend Dianne Semingson. He was 90.
Henry, affectionately known as “Merc” (his initials Hg are the chemical symbol for mercury), was a charismatic raconteur, lawyer, and politician who brought a boundless curiosity, energy, and love of life to everything he did. His energy and personality filled a room, up until the day he passed.
Merc enjoyed good conversation, and he loved the interaction of people. A long-time colleague shared this: “Riding with Merc in a crowded elevator, or sitting near him at a lunch counter, you’d leave with a smile, because he shared a quick joke, a funny story, or tried to get everyone singing.” It was highly unusual to go out to dinner with Merc where he would not know someone, and if he did not find anyone he knew, he would strike up a conversation with the people at the table next to him… at various times this tendency met with chagrin from his family and dinner companions. At Fiddlesticks Country Club in Fort Myers, where he spent the last 24 years of his life, Merc befriended neighbors, wait staff, the starter on the golf course, the piano player, bartenders, the valet, the cashiers and baggers at the local Publix supermarket. He was always sure to have ample treats for the neighborhood dogs, who would see him coming in the golf cart and run to greet him. The list could go on.
As one might expect, after graduating from Wesleyan College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Merc eventually became a dominant figure in Pennsylvania government for several decades. His life in public office began as a Special Deputy Attorney General in 1962 and then as the District Attorney for Lycoming County. He was elected to the Pennsylvania Senate as a Republican in 1972. Four years later, he became the youngest Republican Senate Floor Leader in Pennsylvania history. During his years as Leader, Merc led his caucus to the majority and, in 1980, was elected by the entire Senate to be President Pro Tempore. He ran for Governor of Pennsylvania in 1978, losing in a crowded Republican primary to Richard Thornburgh.
After retiring from the Senate in 1984 at age fifty, Merc was elected the President and CEO of the Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania in which position he served for 16 years until his retirement in 1998. Merc’s achievements, both in the Senate and at the Federation, were considerable and lasting. In the Senate, they included the creation of the Independent Regulatory Review Commission; at the Federation, they included sweeping reforms of Pennsylvania’s auto and workers compensation laws.
Merc was proud not just of the passage of specific laws and regulations, but of the way he approached every issue. His lasting trademark was one of integrity, intelligence and bipartisanship. He was a strong advocate, whether for the Republican side of the aisle in the Senate or the insurance industry at the Federation. But he was also a firm believer in learning from all perspectives, and in questioning his own “side” with just as much thoroughness as he’d do of others. That made him uniquely rewarding to work for and with: You knew you were going to be challenged, but you also knew you were going to be supported when asking the tough questions and making the tough decisions and balances that come with setting public policy.
He was accomplished in areas well beyond the law and politics, and even if he wasn’t quite as accomplished as he wished, as with cooking or fishing, he was so enthusiastic you thought he was pretty good. Merc was an avid golfer. He was a member of Fiddlesticks Country Club, Williamsport Country Club, Merion Golf Club, and Pine Valley Golf Club. He liked to boast that he shot his age each year for 18 holes starting from age 67, and up until he could no longer play two years ago at 88. Merc learned to fly a plane when he was in his 40s, which he loved. Being the possessor of an endlessly curious mind, Merc was known to be easily distracted as a driver of a car, and it is with good fortune for his family that his attempt to once again get his pilot’s license a few years ago was declined.
Since his retirement, Merc devoted himself to the needs of his community, the Fiddlesticks Country Club, serving on its Board and leading successful committees in the revamping of the club’s governing documents. He was a tutor for the Literacy Volunteers of Lee County, and one of his late in life passions was teaching people English as a second language especially for those who needed it to pass the citizenship test. He often practiced his Spanish with everyone and anyone who would engage! Merc also played trumpet with the Island Band of Sanibel, and was the lead cornet and vocalist of “The Dixielanders,” an eight piece band that performed throughout Lee and Collier counties in Florida. Each Friday night Merc could be found at the piano bar at the Fiddlesticks Club House singing with friends. One of his last, yet ultimately favorite endeavors was when he recently became the emcee of the Fiddlesticks trivia night, spending hours researching questions and answers and generally having a ball conducting the events, with the audience sharing in the fun.
Above all, and especially in retirement, Merc cherished spending time with his family. First and foremost was his beloved wife Sally, whom he met at one of the original spring breaks in Fort Lauderdale at the Elbo Room in 1958. They married two months later. It was love at first sight and the beginning of a beautiful love story with many adventures. In the last years of Sally’s life, Merc dedicated himself to her care and comfort, rarely leaving her side. She passed away with Merc beside her after almost 60 years of marriage in 2017.
In 2003, Merc and his entire family began what would become an annual journey each summer to one of the many beautiful lakes in the northeast. When Sally became too ill to travel starting in 2012, they instead stayed local, spending a week in August each year on Captiva Island in Florida. A few years ago the lake trips resumed at Cayuga Lake in Aurora, New York with the family and his dear friend Dianne with whom he shared a special connection. These were the best of times for everyone involved, with memories that fill many photo albums.
Merc was extremely fond of his grandchildren Ariana, Kaya, and Charles Mercury and loved watching them grow up. He often talked of how proud he was of them: Merc quizzed and challenged them, attempted (mostly in vain) to get them to display proper table manners and learn the finer points of grammar. They played games, laughed, read stories, worked at puzzles together, and watched golf and Penn State football. He sang his old-timey songs to them and attempted to get them to listen or watch an old movie, to which they often dutifully complied. One of the kids favorite past-times, up until the last time they saw him in April of this year, was taking what little he had left of his hair and creating different “hairstyles” for him. He would pose for photos with each hairstyle, appearing “forlorn,” but everyone knew he loved it.
Finally, while he did not always show it (especially when they were younger and perhaps a bit too wild for a politician’s offspring), he cherished his daughters Hannah and Eleanor, who were at his side at the end. At times he could be stubborn, intense, and maybe even a bit of a know-it-all. He pretended that he could never quite get over the fact that his daughters both married hard-core democrats, and quite often “spirited” political conversations might ensue. In the end, however, one could not stay mad at him for long, as he was also extremely generous, kind, thoughtful, charming and funny. His was a life well lived.
Henry George Hager, III was born on April 28, 1934, in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, to Henry G. Hager, Jr, MD, and Eleanor (Watt) Hager. He leaves his daughters Hannah Hager Davis (Eric) of Jamesville, New York, Eleanor Hager Temelini (David) of Roslindale, Massachusetts, and his three grandchildren, Ariana, Kaya, and Charles Temelini. He was predeceased by his wife, the former Sally Ann Parrish, and his sister, Gretchen Telek, wife of Andrew Telek of Traverse City, Michigan.
