Meet Bob

Bob, the second of nine brothers, was educated through high school in Fostoria, Ohio, now a sightseeing spot for railroad buffs, with well over 150 trains per day passing through town.

The Hagenmaier boys worked throughout their school years in the struggling family restaurant. Bob also worked while in college, as factory worker, waiter, laboratory technician and teaching assistant. He took time out from the classrooms for three years in the U.S. Army. This included two years at Clark Air Force Base, Philippines, where Bob married Lydia, a beautiful Philippine nurse. With the help of Lydia and the G.I. bill, Bob received a B.S. from the University of Detroit and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Purdue University.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Bob has varied professional experience. He was a research chemist at Texas A&M University. Bob took the family to the Philippines for ten years, first for work with U.S. Agency for International Development and later as manager of a manufacturing facility with over 1000 employees. After a year as sales engineer in Singapore, Bob & family moved to Florida to work in the citrus industry. Finally, he did research for 16 years at the Citrus and Subtropical Products Research Laboratory in Winter Haven before retiring. Bob knows what it’s like to be a worker or a manager; a student or a teacher; an employee of government or of private industry; to be involved in manufacturing, sales or research. That experience helps him to have a feel for you and your work.

Bob lives with Lydia in Winter Haven. They have two children and three grandchildren. Bob wants to make Florida a better place for all children, grandchildren and beyond.

VOLUNTEER WORK

• Active in St. Joseph Catholic church
• Former Chair, School Advisory Committee, Homer Addair Career Academy, Lake Alfred
• Former member, Winter Haven Planning Commission
• Member, several United Way review committees
• Taught chemistry at University of San Carlos, Cebu, Philippines

SOME OF BOB'S FAVORITES

Authors: Walker Percy, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., J.D. Salinger, Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Movies: Life is Beautiful, After the Wedding, The Chorus, and Dr. Strangelove.

Volunteer Work: Over 1000 visits to homebound members of St. Joseph's parish. They inspired me.

Travel: Two weeks spent last year as a pro bono consultant for the Vietnam Post-Harvest Technology Institute in Hanoi, Vietnam, accompanied by my wife, Lydia. Vietnamese food is good!