Kenneth William Hagstrom was born in 1919, the son of Bethel President G. Arvid Hagstrom. He graduated from Bethel in 1939 and from Bethel Seminary in 1942. He was ordained at Spring Lake Park Baptist Church in Minneapolis in 1943. He received his B.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1944. Bill married Ethel Ahlquist in 1944, with whom he had five children. Ethel was born in 1917. Her father, Jonas Ahlquist, was a missionary doctor in Assam, where she grew up. After attending Bethel and Mounds Midway School of Nursing, Ethel worked as a registered nurse.

In 1946, the family moved as missionaries to Assam, India, where they worked with the Nissi tribe, establishing the first school for the group, as well as sevarl mission stations and hospitals. They developed a written script for the Nissi language. They served in India until 1968, when the government expelled foreign missionaries. In 1970, Bill became president and CEO of Presbyterian Homes of Minnesota, Inc. He was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the White House Conference on Aging in 1981. Bill died in 1996, and Ethel died in 2009.