Teacher Mourned By Hatboro-Horsham Community

HATBORO / HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, PA —The Hatboro-Horsham school community is mourning the loss of a high school teacher who passed away recently.

Before its Feb. 26 Hatboro-Horsham School Board meeting, Schools Superintendent Scott Eveslage asked for a moment of silence for high school teacher Justin Matthew Hager, who died on Feb. 18.

Eveslage stated that Hager was not only a dedicated member of the school community, but a cherished friend to many.

Hager had worked in the district for 19 years, teaching health and physical education and driver’s education.

“He made a tremendous impact on the students both in and out of the classroom, as a caring teacher and a dedicated coach,” Eveslage said. “Please keep his family and loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.”

Hager, 45, formerly of Jim Thorpe, was born on Sept. 26, 1978, in the Gnaden Huetten Memorial Hospital, Lehighton, his obituary said.

Hager loved life and was good at it, with a wealth of friends and many great memories and accomplishments.

When he was 4 years old, he broke his femur and was put in a full-body cast, but even that didn't stop him. In his formative years, he was a fixture at the Opera House in Jim Thorpe, portraying characters like Tiny Tim and Oliver Twist, his obituary said.

In high school, Hager played football and baseball —his great love —for which he played practically every position.

He also was chosen to participate in the Keystone Boys State where he was elected governor.

When Hager went to college, he was offered a baseball scholarship to a small college in West Virginia but declined.

Instead, he earned his bachelor's degree in education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. He earned his master's degree in education from Neumann College.

Hager was a veteran teacher in the physical education department at Hatboro-Horsham High School, where he made a tremendous impact on students both in and out of the classroom, as a caring teacher and dedicated coach.

He taught in most of the schools across the district over the last 19 years, teaching Health, Physical Education, Driver's Education, and Adaptive PE.

Throughout his tenure, he coached high school lacrosse and football for the Hatboro-Horsham Hatters.

Among numerous accolades, he was awarded Physical Education Teacher of the Year in 2014 by PSAHPERD.

Hager also served as an adjunct professor at Montgomery Community College.

He is survived by his loving wife, Kim, two sons, Ethan and Evan; two sisters, Kathleen and Lynn, and her husband, Bernie; parents, Dennis and Beth; in-laws Geary Clay and Bob and Carol White; and brother-in-law, Justin Clay, his wife, Erica, and son, Sawyer.

A Mass of Christian Burial 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24, Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 900 Sumneytown Pike, Lansdale. Interment, private. Call 5-8 p.m. Friday, R.L. Williams Jr. Funeral Home, 3440 Skippack Pike at Cedars Road, Skippack. There will not be a viewing at the church.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to a support fund for his sons as they grow and pursue higher education, through the Justin Hager Memorial Fund at gofund.me/739406a3. Online condolences can be offered at RLWilliamsFuneralHome.com.