Judith "Judy" (Robins) Hagen

Judy was born in New Westminster on October 22, 1941, and grew up in South Burnaby, BC. Her paternal grandfather, a master stone mason from Devon England, moved to Vancouver in 1912 to find work before bringing over the rest of the family. He bought three lots in Burnaby, and, in 1918 moved his family to a small house on Dover Street (formerly Paul Street). Judy’s father, Jack, married Rene, bought one of his father’s lots and built a new home for his family.

Judy recounted her young years as being family-oriented and pleasant. She attended school and church nearby, took dance and piano lessons and participated actively in Girl Guides and attended an International Camp in Switzerland in 1962. Judy carried all these interests into her adult years.

Judy would want to add that the one incident in her childhood, that had caused great grief to her and the Burnaby community, occurred in 1958, when she witnessed the unfinished Iron Workers Bridge (Second Narrows Bridge) collapsing into Burrard Inlet.

Judy was a charter student of Simon Fraser University where she pursued a Bachelor of History degree. A 2018 Simon Fraser University Advancement article, Impact of Giving, recounts a juncture in Judy’s life to which she often referred,” When Judy Robins pulled up to the church her best friend attended, Stan Hagen saw her climb out of her little red sports car and was smitten. Married in 1967, they moved to the Comox Valley for one year but were soon immersed in valley life and would stay there to raise their five children.”

Judy continued her SFU studies through distance education and received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in history in 1983. Judy gave generously of her time and talent, supporting her community through 25 years of service to the Girl Guides of Canada and other efforts.

She also put her history education to excellent use, writing a multiple award-winning popular column, "Hunt for History" in the Comox Valley Echo (now The Record) for 25 years and hosting a local Shaw Cable TV program of the same name for 14 years. In 1993, Judy received an award from the Canadian Museums Association for her book Comox Valley Memories and more recently contributed to the Courtenay and District Museum’s award-winning books, Watershed Moments, and Step Into Wilderness, published by Harbour Publishing.

Judy was also a strong supporter for creation of the Comox Valley Community Foundation, was Chairman of the Comox Valley Christian School, President of the Comox Valley branch of Canadian University Women and served on the City of Courtenay Heritage Advisory Commission for 30 Years.

Judy supported her husband’s political life throughout his tenure as the Honourable Stan Hagen who was a British Columbia MLA who served in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia on two separate occasions: MLA, 1986-1991 with the Social Credit Party, and: MLA 2001-2009 with the BC Liberal Party.

Throughout these times, Judy and Stan’s travels had taken them across the province and beyond. As a dedicated monarchist, springing from a love of Queen Elizabeth II, Judy was delighted to have met Princes Edward and Charles in her travels. She also had a conversation with Prince Philip who Judy described as replying with, “barbed wit” and she was presented to HM Queen Elizabeth II.

While serving as Minister of Agriculture and Lands, Stan Hagen passed away on January 20, 2009. Over his career he had served as minister for 10 different ministries.

After Stan passed away, Judy decided, in 2015, to embark on a trip to the Ukrainian province of Volhynian to see the villages where her German grandparents had been born. Judy had started researching her family tree in 1970, curious about her mother’s side of the family.

Judy travelled to Europe, Australia and went on many cruises. She was proud to say that in her travels with Stan and in her lifetime, she had ridden in a dog sled across a frozen lake in the Northwest Territories, on a camel in the Sahara Desert and on an elephant in Thailand.

Judy is predeceased by her husband the Honourable Stanley B. Hagen, her parents Jack and Rene Robins and her eldest daughter Jewal Maxwell.

Survived by her children Corinne, Brian, Paul, Sarah and grandchildren Leif, Aiden, Rayne.

Service will be held on Saturday, August 22 at 2 pm at Faith Lutheran Church, 1688 McPhee Ave in Courtenay, BC. Reception to follow.

Donations in her memory may be made to:

Comox Valley Community Foundation - Courtenay and District Museum Fund