Title
Biography of Antoinette R. (Toni) Hagener
Files
Biography
Antoinette R. (Toni) Hagener
Born Buffalo,N.Y. Attended schools in Colorado Springs, CO graduating from
CSHS and from Univ of Denver,CO with an A.B. Degree in Biological Sciences
and Education. Taught High school Biology in Denver and on a substitute
basis for both Northern Montana College and Havre Public Schools.
She established the quality testing laboratory for the Vita Rich Dairy in
Havre and was employed as a lab tech there for 15 years. Employed as the
Curator of the H. Earl Clack Museum for 1964 to 1980, she earned national
recognition for the interpretive display of local history in the museum.
Active in community work, she has served on a multiplicity of local boards
and committees including those of the City of Havre, Juvenile Court and Hill
County. As chairperson for FORUM (a community development group) she worked
on several projects and was instrumental in promoting Bluebunch Wheatgrass
as the State grass of Montana and as a symbol of the vast prairie resources
of the State. She was appointed to the board of Trustees of the Montana
Historical Society in 1970 serving three terms and as chair of the Board
from 1977-79.
Interested in all phases of local government, she was twice elected and
twice appointed to the Bd of Trustees of School District A-16. She served on
education committees at both the State and regional level. Elected to the
City of Havre Study Commission in 1974-76, she served as chair of that body
and worked in close cooperation with the Hill County Study Commission. She
served as advisor to the latter commission in 1986. She was elected Hill
County Commissioner in 1980 and reelected in 1986. Her husband's illness
forced her retirement in June of 1989.
Deeply involved in the Montana Association of Counties, Hagener served on
several committees on both the State and National level. She served as
President of MACO 1986-87 and was an active member of the National
Association of Counties Health and Education Steering committee for 6 years.
She was elected to the Montana House of Representatives, District 90 in 1994
and served in the '95,97,99 sessions serving on the State Administration,
Local Government, Human Service and Aging and Education Committees during
those sessions and on the Legislative Audit Committee and Water Rights
Compact Commission interim committees. She served on a Human Services study
Committee under the Schwinden Administration and on the Virginia City/Nevada
City Task force under the Racicot Administration.
She is a past President of the Northern Montana Branch of the AAUW and of
the Montana Division of AAUW, a past president of the Museum's Association
of Montana, and the Eastern Montana Historical Society. She served as
District 4 Director of AARP 1995-96 and on the Montana AARP executive Board
2000-2005.
She was honored by the Havre Business and Professional Women's Club as Woman
of the Year in 1974 and received the 12th Judicial Bar Association award for
community service in 1976; by the Montana Historical Society for her work in
local history in 1988 and by Northern Montana College for her work with the
College and community in 1989. She received recognition from the Montana
Committee for the Humanities in Nov of 1996, received the Montana Tourism
Advisory Council Award of Recognition in March of 1997 and the Havre Area
Chamber of Commerce North Star award in 2004.
A frequent speaker and author of articles on local issues and events
related to the history and development of the Havre area, she has coauthored
several booklets with her husband, including a history of NMC, a 100 year
review of the Government of the City of Havre and several other historical
updates. Hagener is the mother of 4 children and grandmother of 5. Her
husband, deceased as of Feb 25, 1993 was the retired head of the NMC Science
Department and Professor of Botany. He was well known and much loved for his
work with students, in the community and in his professional field.
Hagener currently serves on the District X Council on Aging Bd and in
several other volunteer capacities. A broken hip in 2007 has limited her
past ability to act as a volunteer tour guide volunteer guide for the Wahpka
Chug'n Archaeological site, Havre Beneath the Streets, Beaver Creek Park and
the Northern Montana Collections in the Hagener Science Center on the MSUN
campus. She continues doing volunteer work for local libraries, Northern
Montana Hospital, the Care Center and the Van Orsdel Methodist church.
Publication Date
Fall 2015
Recommended Citation
Hagener, Toni and Barrett, Evan, "Biography of Antoinette R. (Toni) Hagener" (2015). Biographies and Photos of Series Participants. 26.
https://digitalcommons.mtech.edu/crucible_bios/26