John Richard O’Hagan, 101, an Ocosta native, Grayland cranberry farmer and Markham resident, died Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022, in Brookings, Oregon.
John was born on June 19, 1920 in Cosmopolis, Washington to John Richard and Lucy Pauline (Yock) O’Hagan. He grew up in Ocosta and graduated from Ocosta High School in 1938. He joined the U.S. Navy Reserves on Jan. 2,1939 serving on the USS Grant (AP-29). He was called to active service on May 20,1941. He served as Quartermaster 1st Class on the USS Wadsworth (DD-516) in the Pacific Theater, where he was the helmsman and became known as “Irish” and later “Zig Zag O’Hagan.” He served in 11 major engagements and earned numerous commendations and medals, including the Presidential Unit Citation. Following Japan’s surrender, the USS Wadsworth was ordered to Tokyo to help liberate POWs held in concentration camps. The poor and degraded condition of the liberated POWs was forever etched on John’s memory. John was honorably discharged on the 5 November 1945 and returned to Ocosta.
In 1946, John bought his first cranberry bog and later joined the Ocean Spray Co-op. In 1951, he married Beulah M. Louthan in Aberdeen. They bought the home place in Grayland where they raised their family. In 1984, he formed Swampapple Enterprises Inc. with three of his sons.
Following Beulah’s passing on April 8, 1988, he sold the farm to his son and did some traveling and through his sister met up with his old high school sweetheart in Anacortes, Washington, Patricia (Blair) Lund. They were married in 1989 in Everett, Washington and settled in La Conner, Washington until her passing on March 27, 2001. He returned to Grays Harbor and built his current home in Markham.
Besides working the farm, John owned Western Grower’s Supply Co. in the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s building the Western Picker for the cranberry industry. Before the War he worked at Boeing while attending the University of Washington. And when he was a teenager, he went out to the logging camps selling eggs and chopping wood for the steam donkeys.
John was a lifetime member of the Aberdeen Elks and was awarded the Longest Living Elk Award in 2017 and also the 75-year membership pin (which had to be designed). He was a Past Director of the Ocosta School Board, Past Director of the Grayland Drainage District, Past Director of the Grayland Water District, member of the Grayland Cranberry Growers Association and former member of the Advisory Committee for Ocean Spray.
He loved to hunt, fish and travel. When he lived in LaConner, he had one of the most pristine gardens in the area. The thing he hated the most in retirement was “weeds.” He visited Ireland and Scotland and many parts of this country for Wadsworth reunions or Ocean Spray annual meetings. He was on an outing to visit family in Brookings, Oregon when he past away.
John is survived by four sons: Patrick (Nyla) O’Hagan of Grayland, Washington; Daniel (Jeanette) O’Hagan of Aberdeen, Michael O’Hagan of Aberdeen and James O’Hagan of Grayland; a daughter, Mitzie (George) Frick of Rochester, Washington; a sister Mary Quinby of Hoquiam, Washington; 19 grandchildren, 41 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Mollie O’Hagan; two sisters, Caroline (Ray) Rasmus and Lois Ann (Robert) Tolliver and two great grandchildren. He is also survived by Patricia’s children; Robin (Margaret) Lund, Rennai (Clint) Sherman, Darli (Randy) Parks and Darrin Lund, 9 step-grandchildren and 10 step-great-grandchildren.
There will be a graveside service with military honors for John at Forest Hill Cemetery, Cosmopolis, Washington, at 1 p.m. on the 10th of February 2022. A celebration of life will take place at the Aberdeen Elks following the graveside service.
Arrangements are entrusted to Twibell’s Fern Hill Funeral Home in Aberdeen, Washington.
