Blake Hagman

Teacher, Coach, Official, Athletic Director, Friend Blake Hagman passed away on April 25, 2022 in Brunswick, Georgia. Blake was born in Bellingham, Washington and moved to Kalamazoo in his junior year of high school. Blake graduated from Kalamazoo Central and earned a BA and MA from Western Michigan University (WMU). He taught business math at Kalamazoo Central High School for 37 years, was the athletic director for 19 years, and officiated at track and cross country meets for over FIFTY years. He managed the State Volleyball Tournament at WMU for 19 years, taught classes in officiating, was a leader in the Michigan Sports Sages, and was active on numerous athletic boards. Blake is in the Kalamazoo Central Hall of Fame and the Hall of Fame for Michigan High School Coaches. He was awarded the Regional Athletic Director of the Year and the State Award of Merit by the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. Blake Hagman was the first person in the State to receive three prestigious designations: the Allen Bush, Vern Norris, and Charles Forsythe awards. Throughout his career, Blake was an exemplary educator -- often calling his students "Ladies and Gentlemen." In his later years, Blake and his wife Connie wintered in Georgia and Blake adopted his beloved dog Bubba. Blake Hagman positively influenced thousands of lives and will live in their memories of his sense of humor, respect, commitment, and fair play. Blake was preceded in death by his parents Richard and Marion Hagman and his first wife Judy. He is survived by two brothers Michael and Steven and his sister Ann. On Sunday afternoons, Blake would composed his letters. He wrote to former students, his niece Kate, and his grandsons Evan and Parker. Blake asked to be cremated and requested that there be no service. The family asks that anyone wishing to remember Blake do so with a donation to the Kalamazoo Humane Society.