Helen Melinda "Linda" Hagerty

Helen Melinda “Linda” Hagerty, aged 85, passed away peacefully at Sundale Nursing Home on May 5, 2025 after a courageous multi-year battle with Parkinson's Disease and dementia. The last year and a half she was a resident of Sundale and befriended many people in her quiet gentle manner. The family gives its most sincere thanks to the many staff members and employees of Sundale, a group of very caring individuals.

A loving wife, a devoted mother and grandmother and cherished friend, Linda’s life was filled with a strong sense of empathy and justice. Her calling was that of Social Work; she graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a MSW degree. Early on, she worked in social service agencies in Pittsburgh, Akron and Philadelphia that focused on the needs of children and families. In West Virginia, she was employed first with the Region VI Planning and Development Council. Later, she would become the Director of the Continuing Education program in the WVU Division of Social Work and then became the Field Instruction Coordinator in the WVU School of Social Work for twelve years. She retired in December, 2004. Linda was a member of the First Presbyterian Church for many years and served as an Elder and Deacon in church life. She particularly enjoyed singing in the choir. She was a founding member and served several terms as secretary of the board of Harless Center, a church-sponsored development project to reclaim life of a former elementary school to be reborn as housing for the university. She was a member of the PEO, Chapter P, and a board member of Empty Bowls Monongalia for several years.

Born on June 25, 1940, in Lancaster County, PA, Linda grew up surrounded by her Pennsylvania Dutch family on their well-managed dairy farm. She was the oldest child of Harry and Helen Mumma, her siblings being brother, Robert Mumma of Chambersburg, PA; and sisters, Mary Ellen Harwood of California; Suzanne Doughty (Howard)) of Wisconsin; and Kay Weber (Tim) of Lititz, PA. There are many children and grandchildren of these siblings, many of whom Linda knew quite well until later years. Linda was preceded in death by her sister-in-law, Martha Mumma; nephew, Steve Mumma; and by brother-in-law, Jerry Harwood.

Linda is survived by her husband, Bill Hagerty with whom she has been married for 58 years, and also their two sons - Brett Hagerty (Jenn) of Morgantown, WV with children Emma and Grace; Ryan Hagerty (Christy) of Shepherdstown, WV with children Wyatt and Sadie. She is also survived by her sister-in-law, Nancy Hagerty Martin (Jerry); and niece, Tracy Harford Tills and family.

Linda and Bill were interested in the history, and culture of other countries. They nurtured their desire to create international friendships by hosting many participants of the Council of International Programs in their home. They developed friendships with visitors from Brazil, Mexico, Germany, Turkey, Cuba, Peru, Kenya, China, and more. In retirement, Linda and Bill, most often with dear friends, Mavis Grant and George Lilley, enjoyed an international trip every year to see and learn about as much of the people of the world as possible.

Friends and family will be received at Hastings Funeral Home, 153 Spruce St., Morgantown, on Friday, May 9th from 4pm – 7pm. Visitation will continue at First Presbyterian Church, 456 Spruce St, Morgantown, on Saturday, May 10th from 10am until the time of the funeral service at 11am, with Rev. Zac Morton officiating. Following the service, cremation services will be provided.

Memorial gifts are being received at the WVU Foundation to the Art Acquisition fund for Diverse Collection, Fund ID# 2W1484, give.wvu.edu or 1 Waterfront PL 7th floor, Morgantown, WV 26501.

Hastings Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements. Condolences may be offered to the family online at www.hastingsfuneralhome.com

During the progression of her Parkinson's Disease and Parkinson's Dementia, my wife Linda would be asked by her PEO educational sorority to present a short autobiography to share with other members. She wrote this story below with guidance from our friend, Mavis Grant Lilley. Much of it appears to have been taken from a small book entitled “Stories For My Grandchildren” which Linda earlier wrote for our grandkids.”  - Bill Hagerty

Stories For My Grandchildren

“I was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania where I lived on a dairy farm. We worked together as a family doing twice-a-day milking of 30+ cows and tending crops. I started helping with the milking at about 8 years of age by washing the cow’s udder with warm water. The cows were quite accustomed to being milked by machines, so it was an easy task. The milk went through pipes and went into a large holding tank. Every once in a while, we had a large storm and the electricity went off, so we had to milk by hand. This was a rare occasion but my brother, Bob, and I worked together sharing tasks. After the milking was finished, the milking machines had to be thoroughly sprayed and sparkling clean after each use.”

“In the summer there was a lot of work to do. I resented that I couldn’t go swimming in the afternoons to be with my girlfriends and to flirt with the boys. My swimming was mediocre and my flirting wasn’t great either. Instead I spent a lot of time picking, peeling, hulling , squeezing and removing silk from the corn. My sisters, brother and I were the chief helpers on the farm. We had a big garden with peas, green beans, lima beans, corn, corn and more corn! My mother had major responsibility for apples and we helped – picking, hauling, canning or freezing everything.”

“One of the things that was nice at this time was my Grandpa Mumma. He would come in his black Plymouth and sit and help us with shelling peas or snapping beans. He enjoyed being with us kids. (I was the oldest of four at that time. The fifth was born when I was 17.)”

“Another aspect of the heavy work load in the summer was harvesting tobacco which had been planted in the spring. We had to ‘sucker’ the plants, and when big enough, we would chop them down to be hung in the tobacco shed for curing/drying.“

“Looking back, I can see what wonderful food we had. I didn’t always appreciate it at the time but we ate this food all through the year. I also didn’t appreciate all the work at the time but it helped shape my values and work ethic.”

“My Dad was a good farmer and he ran the farm as a productive business which was a successful enterprise.”

“I went off to Juniata College in Pennsylvania as a Sociology major. My college years were my first major opportunity to reach out on my own, living apart from family influence. I had a good experience at Juniata and gained a clearer direction for the next stage of my life. I was accepted as a student in Social Work and gained a Master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh. I really enjoyed going to Pitt for my MSW and got especially interested in social issues of the day. Civil rights issues were the main topic of several years both in and outside the classroom. It was the era of Martin Luther King.”

“My first job was at Pressley Ridge House in Pittsburgh, a residential center for young children from homes with major family disturbances. During this time, I met Bill through a mutual friend. Both were from Uniontown. We were married and moved to the Philadelphia area where Bill took a job teaching art. Our first son, Brett, was born in Philadelphia. After that we moved to Morgantown when Bill took a position at WVU in the Interior Design program. During that time, I worked as a social worker for Region VI in community development and needs. Ryan was born shortly after coming to Morgantown and that rounded out our family.”

“Over the course of their school years, we were active in parenting, along with interests in the community and church. I worked at WVU in the School of Social Work as a Field Instructor and made placements of students in various community agencies for their master’s level requirements.”

“Retirement years have been fun with traveling, especially with Mavis and George. We enjoyed the exposure to different cultures in Turkey, Peru, Germany, France, the Scandinavian countries, Italy, the Balkans, Ireland, etc.“

“Most of you may already know that in my mid-70’s my health became an issue when I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease with Dementia. We are not doing any more traveling. Now my exercise is at the gym where I do boxing!”