About Tiny Hagen -Margaret E. Murie

In the small town of Plummer, Minnesota, on Christmas Day 1921.  Grant Olaf Hagen was born, the third son of Gudor and Severine Hagen. In the 1932 the family moved to Jackson Hole and by this time there was a fourth son, Harold. 

Parents with the qualities of Gudor and Severine were bound to have sons of which they could be proud. With his brothers, Grant who came to be known as Tiny (although he was not tiny) attended the schools in Jackson and went on to the University of Wyoming.  But then came World War II and they were all in the service. Tiny, already an expert skier and outdoorsman, soon became an instructor in the Tenth Mountain Division. In December, 1949, Tiny took a position with the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission as fisheries biologist for the western Wyoming watershed. 1954 was a year of great decisions for Tiny and his family, for in that year he quit the state position and moved into art as a career.  During the next few summers, however, he also worked as a ranger and ranger-naturalist in Grand Teton National Park. Tiny and Maggie thus became permanent residents of Jackson and were soon involved, with their young family of a daughter and two sons, in every good happening in the valley.

To list Tiny's participation is one thing; to convey the effect of all these doings on the life of the community is quite another, but it is obvious that he felt strongly about this valley and its people. 

Tiny was from its beginning a member and moving spirit on the board of the Teton Science School; he was a member of the board of the Grand Teton Music Festival for six years, the last two as president; he was on the vestry of St. John's Episcopal Church and a member of the choir; he was the leader in a successful battle to save Cache Creek from dams and preserve that pure watershed.  He took part in every struggle to guard the integrity of Jackson Hole's landscape.  He was active in all the winter sports activities.

In these early 50's, when he was gaining a solid reputation as an artist, Tiny and two other artists of our valley, Connie Schwiering and Paul Bransom had the habit of painting together during the summer.  The result was Teton Artists Associated, a summer art school which flourished for seven years, with the assistance of Maggie Hagen, Mary Ethel Schwiering and Helen West as helpers.  The classes met in the countryside three times a week, all day, and the three artists were each responsible for one day of teaching.  The classes averaged 25 participants, so that it is clear that this was a most worthwhile endeavor, affecting many lives.

The following years were richly productive ones, both in oil painting and in sculpture.  But there also developed a heart condition, and on November 18, 1977, at the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Palo Alto, California, Tiny died following heart surgery.

I personally am in so grateful for the friendship of all the Hagen family, and for the close tie which existed between Tiny and my husband Olaus.  For that reason I am quoting here a few sentences from the remarks Tiny made at the dedication to Olaus of the plantings and the plaque in the North Park in September 1975, because I feel these words now apply just as truly and as eloquently, to Tiny.

"Because of his sincere belief that in the breadth and depth of life, all things, even the most minute, play a significant role, his dedication to that concept was profound. That makes me important, too, like each one of you. I felt individually important in his presence, as a youngster and as an adult.  There is so much to learn, but like skiing down Snow King, it's only done one turn at a time, but the accumulated effect is surely rewarding.  Those of us whom he touched personally, are forever richer for that experience, but so are generations to come."

Tiny followed the rich urgings of his rich talents with never a harmful word or deed toward his fellowmen.  With his art, with his community work, with his friendships, but above all with himself, with what he was, he enriched this valley for times to come.

Tiny Hagen did this for Jackson Hole.

Margaret E. Murie