MENDOTA - Robert “Bob” Floyd Hagemann, 88, of Mendota passed away Feb. 7, 2021 at Heritage Health, Mendota.

Due to COVID restrictions, funeral services will be private for immediate family only on Thursday, Feb. 11 at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Mendota with Rev. Ken Gibson officiating. Burial will follow at Restland Memorial Gardens, Mendota with military honors by Mendota VFW Post 4079. Merritt Funeral Home, Mendota is assisting the family. A memorial service is being planned for later in the summer for all family and friends as well as the community Bob lived in and landscaped for many years.

Bob was born Dec. 1, 1932 near Welland, just outside of Mendota, to Henry M. and Hazel E.B. (Mathesius) Hagemann. He married Lorraine A. Kolczaski of Peru on July 18, 1953 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Mendota. She preceded him in death in 1997 after 43-1/2 years of marriage. He married Donna Pfeifer on June 9, 2001 and they enjoyed life with each other for nearly 20 years.

Survivors include four children, David of Duluth, Minn., Dale (Deb) of Mendota, Debbie (David) Hof of LaSalle and Donna (James) Kuntzi of Jacksonville, Fla.; two step children, Robert (Brandy) of DeKalb and Barbara (Barry) Boyle of Earlville; several grandchildren and great-grandchildren; one brother, Dennis (Colleen) of Edgerton, Wis.; and several nephews and nieces.

He was preceded in death by his parents; three brothers, Kenneth, Roland, and Donald; and a step son, Wally Pfeifer.

Bob attended Mendota schools but really was a self-starter, learning about and operating several businesses on his own without a formal education. With the exception of his two years in the U.S. Army, he lived his whole life in the Mendota area and community. As a young man, he worked for Elmer Beitsch at his greenhouses in Mendota, which is when and where he realized Mendota needed a nursery and landscaping business. In the early summer of 1953, during the Korean War, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. His basic training was completed at Fort Riley in Kansas and he spent the next two years at Fort Sill in Lawton, Okla., where he was trained as an electrician. He built his family’s home on 11th Street by himself. Together, he and Lorraine had four children, David, Dale, Debbie and Donna, with their first child born while still in Lawton and the others born in Mendota. He and Lorraine started, owned and operated 11th Street Nursery & Landscaping, a business they began by selling geraniums in the late 1950s. He also worked at Marathon Electric in Earlville until they built up the business enough to provide full time work for him and his family, enabling them to all work together as a family business. They operated their business entirely from their home and ran it for over 30 years. Some years into the business, he also began a specialized seasonal business, making thousands of Christmas wreaths, roping, swags and grave blankets for local folks and businesses in the community. To retire, Bob and Lorraine sold the nursery and landscaping business to Dan McConville, who continues to operate the business next door on 11th Street. Bob was a dedicated and avid hunter and fishermen throughout his life and took many, many hunting and fishing trips with his friends and family members, going to various places around the country including bear hunting in Maine and Minnesota and fishing in Florida. For many years early in his career, he also had a taxidermy business, which provided additional work during the winter. The taxidermy was done at his home, where he completed many, many hundreds of mounted trophies of fish, deer, bear, etc. for local sportsmen. Bob was a lifelong member of St. John’s Lutheran Church, where he served on the Church Council for a few years, and was a member of the local Chamber of Commerce, as well as other local organizations related to small businesses and sportsmen’s groups.

Memorials may be directed to the family. Online condolences may be left at www.merrittfh.com.