Hageman, Kathy

Kathy Hageman never intended to be a journalist, but once she decided to follow that path it became a passion.

Working at newspapers — mostly in small Kansas towns — Kathy learned how important the written word is to the communities it serves. Newspapers tell the history of the communities, documenting the changes that occur year by year. And when there's no one left to remember, the articles will still exist, chronicling the who, what, when, where and why explaining decisions that were made.

Fresh out of Emporia State University, Kathy was looking for a job as a history instructor, but soon learned one had to be a football or basketball coach to teach history in Kansas in the 1980s and instead, she ended up teaching high school English — which didn't work out.

After spending a few months working at a convenience store in Abilene, Kathy's parents and brother, Dale, felt her education was going to waste and "strongly encouraged" her to take a job working at the Larned Tiller and Toiler in 1985 as a proofreader and punch typesetter. After awhile, a reporter job came open and she asked the owner if she could give it a try and he agreed.

She learned by writing feature stories, preparing society news and country correspondence, dummying out pages, answering the phones and taking classified ads. When a coworker went on vacation, Kathy covered her first city council meeting — which ended up being a heated one — starting a trend that happened more often than not in upcoming years.

She went to work for the Osborne County Farmer in 1987, where she served as society editor, feature writer and began covering more news and later became editor. Kathy also sold advertising when a coworker was on maternity leave and was in charge of circulation, running an addressograph and completing the mail reports. While living in Osborne, Kathy got involved in the community, serving as a founding member of the Osborne Area Jaycees and she began acting and directing melodramas when a fundraiser was needed for the Osborne County Red Cross.

Over the years, she also worked as a reporter at the Winfield Daily Courier, and editor for the Lincoln Sentinel Republican and at the Marion County Record.

In 2000, she returned to her hometown in Abilene, taking a job as news editor at the Abilene Reflector-Chronicle and ended up filling other roles as well, including lifestyles editor, circulation assistant, ad designer and pre-press.

Kathy also took some short detours away from the news business, working as public information officer for Winfield USD 465 in the 1990s and Dickinson County in 2021-22, after retiring from the Reflector-Chronicle.

As of 2023, Kathy fills in at the Reflector-Chronicle when needed and writes her personal column. She and her husband, Gary, have an adult son, Erik, who lives in Manhattan.