IN MEMORIAM:  Margaret R. Hage, 95;

Montgomery County Home Administrator

COOPERSTOWN – Margaret R. Hage, 95, whose family members have played key roles in Cooperstown civic life in recent years, passed away peacefully late Friday night, Jan. 23, 2015, at the Clara Welch Thanksgiving Home.  She was affectionately known her whole life by family and friends as Peggy or Peg.

A funeral mass was Tuesday.  The complete obituary was released today by Connell, Dow and Deysenroth Funeral Home.

Born Dec. 26, 1919, in Troy, Margaret was one of six children of Joseph K. and Barbara (Solomon) Deeb, who had moved a decade earlier from their common childhood village of Blawza, Lebanon.  She married Sasen S. Hage of Fort Plain on Jan. 12, 1936, in a ceremony at the Church of St. Anne in Troy.

Until 1945 she resided at the Fort Plain Hotel – managed by her husband – and was employed during that time at the hotel and the Beech-Nut Packing Co.  As her family grew, she and her husband bought a house in Fort Plain, where they lived until 1955, when her husband became commissioner of Social Services for Montgomery County and she became administrator of the Montgomery County Home.

For nearly two decades as administrator, she supervised the operation of the residential facilities and services for about 80 homeless people who lived and worked at the home and farm.  She managed purchasing, food service, medical service, human resources and entertainment in a setting that was familiar in many counties of Upstate New York.

Following her husband’s death in 1994, Peg moved to Cooperstown to be near family and lived on Fair Street until 2005, when she moved to the Clara Welch Thanksgiving Home, where she was active for several years in activities, events and excursions.  Throughout Peg’s life, she was known as an energetic worker and kind to all she met.

She is survived by four sons, Charles T. Hage, and wife, Ursula, of Cooperstown, Gordon J. Hage of Cobleskill, Robert P. Hage of Cooperstown, and Richard Hage and wife, Patricia, of Plymouth, New Hampshire. Grandchildren include Amy, Andrew, Christopher, Daniel, Eric, Erik, Maureen, Myra, Sarah and Zachary.  Great grandchildren include Adrian, Alex, Anders, Anika, Ann, Brandon, Caroline, Johnny, Kyra, Lyla, Margaret, Mary, McKenna, Meagan, Melissa, Michael, Owen, Sophie, Tyler and Wilha.  Sisters include Anna, Marion, Virginia and many nieces and nephews.

Her son Chuck and grandsons Eric and Dan have operated Mohican Financial Management here and in Connecticut.  Both Chuck and Eric have served in the Village Board in recent years.

Peg was preceded in death by her husband, Sasen S. Hage, who died June 3, 1994; one brother, Gordon Deeb; and one sister, Ange Atty Deeb.

Peg took special pride in her rapid-fire, no hesitation, reciting of the names, in chronological order, of her sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, their partners, and great grandchildren, all 46 of them!

She was the greatest of masterpieces in her capacity to love.  She sat her children upon her knee, sang and danced with them, let them fail, picked them up, gave them hell in a heavenly way, and forgave them because love is what she was.

We remember our tiny hands in Mom’s.  We came to understand Mom’s tenderness, strength, and wisdom, and so we’ve been privileged to now hold her hand in ours.

Mom was out truest friend, the surety and comfort we needed.  In the middle of the night we called Mommy, and Peg was there.  Now we think “Mom” and our hearts smile because her heart was our classroom.

Your spirit shines on, Mom.  We owe to you our ability to tie our shoes, wash behind our ears, say please and thank you, nurture a garden, be kind and charitable to others, be stewards of Mother Nature, love all children, and to live morally.  Oh, and to cook good food, feed the masses, and to keep on working, and working, and working.

Thank you, Mom. We love you, with all our hearts.

The Liturgy of Christian Burial was at St. Mary’s “Our Lady of the Lake” Roman Catholic Church in Cooperstown.  The Service of Committal and Burial will be at a later date in Fort Plain Cemetery.

For those who so desire, memorial gifts may be directed to the Margaret and Sasen Hage Scholarship Fund and mailed to 85 Pioneer Street, Cooperstown, NY  13326.

Arrangements are under the care and guidance of the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.