Lawrence W. Hager

Lawrence White Hager was born on May 28, 1890, in Louisville, Kentucky, as the son of Samuel Wilber Hager and Elizabeth "Bessie" Woods White.[2] His father served as Kentucky State Treasurer and auditor between 1900 and 1908. His mother was a member of the White family, a wealthy and politically influential family in Kentucky. Through his mother he was related to John D. White, Addison White, and Hugh Lawson White, all of whom served in U.S. congress.[1][4] He earned a Master of Arts and graduated cum laude and salutatorian from Centre College in 1909. He was offered a scholarship to Harvard Law School, but declined to join his father at the Messenger-Inquirer in Owensboro.[2] On June 5, 1921, he married Martha Augusta Brown. He and Martha had two children, Lawrence W. and John S. Hager.[1]

While still enrolled in college, he got his first job as a reporter for the The State Journal in Frankfort during the summer of 1908. After graduating from Centre College in 1909, he worked as an assistant in the Modern Language Department. In 1910, he declined a scholarship to Harvard Law School, instead deciding to join his father at the Messenger-Inquirer in Owensboro. In 1917, he enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War I, and was an artillery officer in France until the end of the war.[2][1]

Hager was one of the main founders of the Owensboro Rotary Club. In 1916, he founded the Goodfellows Club, an organization which provided gifts and clothing for disadvantaged children. In 1951, He helped raise over US$1,000,000 to move Kentucky Wesleyan College to Owensboro. Hager was one of the main organizers of the Kentucky Society for Crippled Children.[2]

At the time of 1932, Hager was serving as president of the Kentucky Press Association. Between 1935 and 1941, he was a postmaster at a post office in Owensboro. In 1956, he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Kentucky.[5]

Hager died on December 25, 1982, in Owensboro, Kentucky, after a brief illness. When he died, he was serving as director of the Owensboro Publishing Company, and the Kentucky Broadcasting Company.[3]