Community members remember late Congressman Jim Hagedorn

(ABC 6 News) – A public visitation was held Friday evening to honor the late Minnesota Congressman Jim Hagedorn, who died two weeks ago at the age of 59 following a battle with cancer.

The visitation was open to the public and many gathered to remember his life and the legacy he is leaving behind at the Patton funeral home in Blue Earth.

Hagedorn represented the state’s first district, which covers much of southern Minnesota.

A second public visitation will be held Saturday from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. in Truman. The funeral and burial for Hagedorn will be held privately this weekend.

RELATED: US Rep. Hagedorn dies at age 59

Hagedorn was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer in 2019 and began receiving care at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. He announced he had a kidney removed as well as cancerous tissues surrounding the kidney.

Then in July 2021, he announced a reoccurrence of his kidney cancer.

RELATED: Remembering Congressman Jim Hagedorn – Jennifer Carnahan

Hagedorn’s widow, Jennifer Carnahan, reflected on their last few months together ahead of the funeral.

“We went through the worst, we went through a diagnosis of cancer two months after we were married,” Carnahan said. “We went through battling cancer, we went through elections, we went through a decimation of something that I would never want to go through in August as it related to my career right in the midst of all this going on. It just kind of made us come together more and unite.”