David Hagerstrand

Resident of Concord

 

David Richard Hagerstrand, born July 18, 1942, passed away peacefully on Thursday, October 7th, in his home in Concord.  If you knew Dave, you’d say he lived a hard working, adventure-filled life but definitely did it on his own terms.  He joins his beloved wife, Hilda Pritchett Hagerstrand, in heaven.  They were married for 46 years after meeting on a blind date in May of 1964, and they were married 6 months later.  

 

Raised in Clayton, California with four brothers and a sister, he graduated from Clayton Valley High School in the Class of 1959.  As a young man, he became a journeyman carpenter and also served in the U.S. Army Reserves.  As he and Hilda began their family in the late 60’s, Dave also excelled at salesmanship, which included being a top agent at the John Hancock agency of Walnut Creek.  He bought properties in places he scouted out and enjoyed investing in real estate for several decades.

 

Later, it was hard to picture him as the guy with a tailored three-piece suit, when he moved the family to some property he bought in Plumas County. Dave was a resident of Greenville from 1975 to 1985, where he homesteaded, and he and Hilda raised their small children. He considered Greenville his mountain hometown.  During those years, you could find him logging, mining, shagging Christmas trees, home building, working hard in his family’s firewood business, drinking coffee and loving small town life.   He even ran for County office.

 

Most people knew him as “Dave”, the tall guy in town with a friendly smile who would strike up a conversation with just about anybody.  Definitely a man of many interests, his favorite pastimes included:  helping a friend, Republican politics and his favorite President, Ronald Reagan, going to swap meets and car shows, rebuilding cars and trucks at his shop, drinking beer and going camping with his sons and grandsons, visiting his kids and grand kids in Oregon, attending graduations and weddings, listening to oldies and country music, and dancing with every lady in the room.

 

From the 1980’s until his passing, Dave lived and worked in Concord, where he continued home building and remodeling work into his 70’s. His five kids grew up and fulfilled his dreams that they would go to college, have a strong future, and start their families.  He was always a family man, and his heart was torn when his beautiful wife, Hilda passed away.  As you can imagine, he never officially “retired” from working, especially with his oldest son Dan.  He was definitely a true conservative and a dreamer.  His legacy included amazing optimism and his hallmark conversations where he always pushed you to reach higher and go bigger in life.

David is survived by:  his sister, Carol Paulsen, and four brothers, Russell, Allen, Hal, and Colin Hagerstrand; his five children, Melanie Johnson, Stacy Hagerstrand, Daniel Hagerstrand, James Hagerstrand and Kristina Arch.  He is also blessed to be “Grandpa David” to thirteen grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

 

Friends and family are invited to a Celebration of Life on Wednesday, October 13th from 3-6 pm at Nancy Boyd Park in Martinez.    

 

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to GoFundMe, https://gofund.me/90ff91aa, which is the account to help rebuild the town of Greenville California, destroyed in the Dixie Fire on August 3rd.