Lillian Hagen Roll

Lillian Hagen Roll was born on the family farm February 5, 1927, the youngest of three siblings, to Kathryn Fischer Neuharth and Fred Neuharth near the little agricultural village of Minatare in extreme western Nebraska. She joined her older brother, Phil and sister, Selma.

Lillian attended a one-room schoolhouse-known as Hope School, through the eighth grade. At the age of 14, she graduated from Shelton Academy, a Christian boarding HS in Nebraska. While there she met and fell in love with Harold Hagen. Harold joined the U.S. Army December 23, 1942, and was ultimately deployed to Europe. During this time Lillian attended Union College in Lincoln, NE one year, obtaining a Teacher’s Certificate. She taught in 1944 at her alma mater, Hope School, and then moved with several girlfriends to Kansas City to teach. After the war ended, she married Corporal Harold Hagen in on her 19th birthday, February 5, 1946.

Their daughter, Jean was born in 1947 in Scottsbluff, NE, while Harold was waiting for orders to deploy to Japan as part of the occupation army after VJ Day, but instead he was reassigned to Ft. Warren Army Post in Cheyenne, WY. Their son, Ron was born there in 1948. Lillian spent the next 20 years as a military wife until Harold retired from the Air Force. During this time, she also taught Kindergarten and worked for the civil service.

In 1966 they moved to Orlando, Florida where Lillian went back to college, completing her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and master’s degree in early childhood education at the University of Central Florida. She taught school in Orlando for the next 20 years, retiring at the age of 73.

Harold Hagen passed away in 1983, and in 2002, she married Harold Roll. They moved to Ooltewah, Tennessee in 2009 and Harold Roll passed away two years later. In 2015, at 88, Lillian had a stroke and was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. In spite of this handicap, she brought joy to those around her. Her warm smile, selfless attitude, and rugged determination to be as independent as possible inspired all who knew her.

Lillian died peacefully on December 26, 2025, leaving behind a host of friends and family. She is survived by her daughter, Jean Lomino (Joe) and son, Ron Hagen (Mary), her grandsons, Jeffrey Lomino, Jerry Lomino, Seth Hagen, and Corey Hagen and granddaughters Julie Farmer and Katie Hinson. She is also survived by 15 great-grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews.