Albert Joseph Hagel II – Lieutenant Colonel, United States Army

From a contemporary press report:

Albert Joseph Hagel II, 64, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel who while working as a civilian became a hostage in Iran, died of cardiac arrest August 8, 1998 at his home in North Potomac, Maryland.

He served in the Air Force for 22 years before retiring from active duty in 1974. After that, he worked for Rockwell International before coming to Washington. While working for Rockwell, he was taken hostage in Iran in 1979. He was a former Air Force intelligence officer and linguist whose command of Farsi was instrumental in the hostages’ rescue and escape.

After coming to Washington in 1982, he worked for the Harris Corp. and Space Com, then served as an assistant vice president of GTE and was a fund-raising executive with the National Capital Area Boy Scouts. For the past year, he had worked for Rand Technologies in Northern Virginia, where his duties had included purchasing assignments.

Colonel Hagel, a native of Evanston, Illinois, was a psychology graduate of the University of Hawaii and received a master’s degree in business administration from the Florida Institute of Technology.

He had been a Sunday school teacher and member of the choir at Little Flower Catholic Church in Bethesda, and had served as a special assistant to the president of the Beethoven Society of America. He was a member of the Fairfax Hunt, the Potomac Polo Club, the Society of Old Crows and the Black Ties.

His marriage to Clorette Hagel ended in divorce.

Survivors include his wife, Joyce, of North Potomac; three daughters from his first marriage, Michele Wagner of Fayetteville, N.C., Kristen Lingner of Boonetown, N.J., and Erika Inglis of Orlando, Fla.; a stepson, Marc Martoccia of Cleveland; and four grandchildren.


HAGEL, ALBERT JOSEPH, II, USAF (Ret.)

On Saturday, August 8, 1998, of North Potomac, MD, beloved husband of Dr. Joyce S. Martoccia-Hagel; loving father of Michele Wagner of Fayetteville, NC, Kristen Lingler of Short Hills, NJ, Erika Inglis of Orlando, FL, and stepson, Marc Martoccia of Cleveland, OH; loving brother of June Simms of Kennesaw, GA; loving grandfather of Hunter, Alexandra, Davis and Stephanie. Also survived by a brother-in-law, Paul Sgro; a sister-in-law, Trevagrey Sgro; many nieces and nephews; devoted friends, Trudy Davis and Joan Lyons; and cousin, Jennifer Conrad. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at the Church of the Little Flower, 5607 Massachusetts Ave., Bethesda, MD on Tuesday, August 11 at 10 a.m. Interment Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association or the Boy Scouts of America.

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