Emeritus Director of Financial Aid Robert Hage '35, who served the College for more than 50 years, died of a stroke yesterday morning at the Hanover Terrace Healthcare Center. He was 82 years old.
"His passing was quite sudden," said Director of Financial Services Win Johnson, who worked with Hage. "He had some very serious strokes several weeks ago. He was rehabilitating and didn't recover from them."
Johnson said Hage was planning to retire in March.
During his 50 years at the College, Hage served in various positions with the Admissions and Financial Aid Office.
Hage was assistant director of admissions from 1948 to 1952 and was executive secretary of the committee on scholarship and loans for four years. In 1956, Hage became the director of financial aid, a position he held until 1974.
During his career, Hage helped develop the College Tuition Aid program, which provides tuition assistance for the children of Dartmouth faculty.
Upon resigning as director of financial aid in 1974, Hage remained at the College, serving as director of the College Tuition Aid program.
"He had about him a sense of accomplishment and a sense of having had a very successful career," Johnson said. "A lot of people will miss him."
Hage will be missed not only by his colleagues at the College, but also by his classmates.
"He was the most absolutely friendly person and very active in class affairs," said Class of 1935 president George Price '35. Hage was an active class officer.
Hage expressed how much he enjoyed working for Dartmouth in an article in the 25th Anniversary book of the Class of 1935.
"My work at Dartmouth has been as interesting as one could hope for," he wrote after his eighth year as a College administrator.
Hage took pride in his achievements with scholarship fund-raising. One of Hage's milestones occurred in 1960, when the College exceeded $1 million in scholarships and jobs for students.
"That may not seem a lot now, but back then -- 25 years after we graduated -- the tuition was $1,400," Price said. "Tuition was $400 dollars when he and I went to school."
An economics and politics major, Hage graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth in 1935.
As an undergraduate at the College, Hage was an active leader on campus, serving as president of the Interdormitory Council and as associate editor of The Dartmouth.
Following graduation, Hage worked in the sales and promotion and advertising division at Vicks Chemical Company until 1942.
He served in the U.S. Navy as lieutenant commander during World War II. After the navy, Hage returned to Vicks Chemical for a year before joining the College administration in 1947.
Hage, originally from Passaic, New Jersey, lived in Hanover.
He is survived by his wife Henrietta, stepdaughter Patricia Hoag Dell Isola, stepson John H. Hoag, eight grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
