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GREENSBORO — When Charles T. Hagan Jr. died last week, no one could say he hadn’t made the most of every minute.

At 96, Charlie — as he was known to everyone — was the patriarch of a large and loving family, a towering figure in North Carolina legal circles and a man known for devotion to public service.

As friends and family gathered at the home of Charlie’s son Chip and his daughter-in-law U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan on Sunday, it was not to mourn. Laughing, drinking and embracing, they were instead celebrating a very full life.

“When you look at everything he did, all he accomplished and who he was to so many people, it’s like he lived three lives’ worth,” said his son, David Hagan. “And it was amazing that he still made so much time for us, for his whole family.”

All five of his surviving children remembered their father sharing his passions for hunting, fishing and sailing — whether they liked it or not.

“He was a family man and he set that tone,” said Chip Hagan. “He said we were going to spend time as a family and one thing about sailing was, the boat was only so big. We couldn’t go anywhere, we had to be together.”

Boats and the water were a lifelong passion, one he helped spread far beyond his family. As a 24-year-old he organized a ship, The Davey Jones, to help teach sailing and leadership to Boy Scouts. The Sea Scout base at High Rock Lake is now named in his honor.

“He felt a real commitment to helping others succeed,” said son Henry Hagan. “Whether it was with the Sea Scouts, with junior associates at his law firm, just people that he knew.”

Son Chip said he was a natural leader and a teacher by inclination — something that may have come from his long years in the U.S. Marine Corps.

After attending UNC-Chapel Hill and getting his law degree at the University of Virginia, Charlie was commissioned as a reserve Marine officer and was called to active duty in 1941. During World War II, he served at Roi-Namur, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima, earning the Bronze Star with Combat V, a Presidential Unit Citation with a bronze star and many campaign medals.

After the war he remained active in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve while pursuing his career in law, earning the rank of major general and becoming the highest-ranking Marines reserve officer in the country when he retired in 1973.

In civilian life in his native Greensboro, he served as solicitor, which is now called district attorney, for Guilford and Davidson counties, where he was known as a fierce prosecutor but knew how to take off the gloves when the bout was over.

“He was a damned good lawyer,” said friend and fellow attorney Bynum Hunter. “But he was also a very nice guy about it. He and I were on opposite sides many times, but he was always a gentleman.”

In 1955, he founded the firm that would become Adams, Kleemeier, Hagan, Hannah & Fouts and later served as president of the Greensboro Bar Association.

“He was so dedicated as an attorney; he would stay up all night working sometimes in hotel rooms,” remembered Kay Hagan, a Democrat who serves as North Carolina’s junior senator. “And he would bring his own light bulbs to each room, because he said the ones they used weren’t bright enough.”

Longtime friend Eddie Yost remembered Charlie’s powerful intellect, on display when he was president of the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce and as chairman of the Greensboro Coliseum Commission for more than 20 years.

“When we served together on the commission I remember that he wanted to hear every side of an issue or argument,” Yost said. “And then he almost instantly could process everything and lead everyone to the most logical conclusion.”

Grandson Tilden Hagan said one of his enduring memories of his grandfather was his love of watching UNC basketball at the coliseum.

“We gave him a blue blazer and on the inside it was the Carolina colors and logo,” Tilden said.

“He would hold it wide open and show it off.”

As the house filled with friends and family Sunday afternoon, son John Hagan said he heard so many things about his father. People called him a great friend, a larger-than-life character, even the greatest man they knew.

“You hear these things now,” John Hagan said. “And you heard them all the time.”

Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com