As many of you know, this is Rev. Edward Hager. This photo was cropped out of one of my wedding photos, taken on August 30, 1980.
Rev. Hager grew up a long way from Dutchtown in the tiny town of Balta, North Dakota. Living only 60 miles from the Canadian border, he experienced brutal winters where the average lows in the dead of winter were below 0. Aside from the weather and the accents, though, North Dakotans were not much different from Dutchtowners. Even today, over 90% of North Dakota’s land is farmland.
He was working as an electrical engineer in Elkhart, Indiana, where he said he “found the Lord, or he found me.” After that, he quit his job, went to college, and began his ministry, eventually graduating from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in 1965.
One of my earliest childhood memories was seeing the results of a tornado that hit on Christmas Eve in 1964. Mt. Carmel Methodist Church at the intersection of Mt. Carmel Road and North Mt. Carmel Road was utterly demolished. Rev. Hager, who was in the parsonage 120 feet away from the church, was unharmed. He said at the time, “I looked out, and I should have seen a church in the flash of the lightning. But it wasn’t there.”
Rev. Hager was also the Fulton County Chaplain for many years, primarily ministering to inmates. I won’t namedrop, but I know some of Atlanta’s most notorious allowed him to present the gospel to them. Another aspect of that job was to perform the funeral service for people who could not afford a proper burial, sometimes in situations where he was the only one there. He knew that even if the world had forgotten the person, God knew them and loved them.
For my generation at County Line Church, he was our Pastor. He preached on Sundays, and for us teenagers, he also taught us in Sunday School. In the most difficult times, he was there – losing a loved one or when a loved one or we were in the hospital. He also celebrated with us during weddings and infant baptisms.
Later on in life, after he had “retired,” he sent me scores of what he called “Good Thoughts.” I will conclude this tale with one that he sent that perfectly describes how grateful I am for his influence in my life. I love him, and I miss him, but I will see him again one day.
“I want to thank you, Lord, for those special people that touch my life. They are a special blessing to me. They are willing to put up with my mistakes and antics. They accept me for who I am. They are willing to tell me when I am wrong and help me to get changed back to what and to where I belong…..and don’t keep records or hold it against me.”