Alfred D. “Fred” Hagen is a modern-day renaissance man, a carpenter born in Norwood and raised in Delaware County who is among the nation’s most successful corporate builders.
He has created sprawling residential developments, corporate headquarters, hospitals, industrial facilities, airports, and museums nationwide.
Locally, his company, Hagen Construction Inc., helped complete many prestigious projects, from the Kimmel Center to Philadelphia International Airport.
But Hagen is also a world-savvy traveler, historian, documentary filmmaker, and humanitarian.
When he had a chance for a Villanova University scholarship, he passed it up so he could travel to Alaska and help build the pipeline.
Hagen was twice aboard the ill-fated Titan submersible to the ocean floor resting place of the Titanic wreck.
He has traveled to the North Pole and led archaeology missions to salvage the contents of ancient Roman ships in the Adriatic.
Hagen was recognized by the Smithsonian Institute for his search and successful recovery of a legendary WWII B-17 bomber lost for 60 years, submerged in a primordial Papua New Guinea swamp. The plane is now reconstructed and on display at the Pearl Harbor Museum.
He also arranged for the recovery and return of the remains of over 15 US airmen for burial with full military honors.
“To many people, all the time, money and energy that I have poured into this series of expeditions to find and recover mortal remains and artifacts, doesn’t make much sense,” Hagen said in a PR Newswire article from June 22, 2020.
“But I believe that all that I have accomplished and may still achieve in my life is because I have stood on the shoulders of the greatness that preceded me.”
When the Ukraine War began in February 2022, Hagen organized, funded, and participated in humanitarian missions delivering medical equipment, including ambulances, to Ukrainian Pediatric Hospitals.
He has made a total of six humanitarian visits to the Ukrainian war zone.
During his visits in 2023-24, Hagen shot footage through his company Adrenaline Films of Ukrainian ballet dancers, directors, choreographers, and crew fighting for their freedom, both on stage and on the front lines of the conflict.
From that footage, he created “The Sky Was on Fire: Ballet and War in Ukraine,” a documentary that will be shown Nov. 7 at the Museum of the American Revolution, along with a second specialty short film.
The documentary follows National Ballet of Ukraine stage director Oleh Tokar and other ballet artists who had to make a difficult decision after the Russian invasion of Ukraine: to flee or to stay and fight—and also to perform.
Tokar, one of many Ukrainian ballet artists who have taken up arms in the fight against Russia, continues to work for the National Ballet of Ukraine by day.
Find out more about the Nov. 7 screening.
Fred Hagen’s experiences and travels have also made him a passionate collector. His Chelwood Manor & Gardens home, a historic estate on the Delaware River in Bensalem, is filled with artwork and noteworthy historical craft.
That includes the largest collection of U.S. Presidential memorabilia featuring personal possessions and hand-written notes, documents, and proclamations by almost every U.S. President.
Editor’s Note: This post first appeared on DELCO Today in November 2025.
