John Tegan '59

If life is a path that we all must explore, then John Tegan's has been an intriguing one. In the words of philosopher Kermit D. Frog, "If you come to a fork in the road, take it."

John was born in Revere, played on the JV team at Revere High School where he was an Honor Roll student and active in student government. In his sophomore year, he came home with another stellar report card hoping that his father would be impressed.

"How did you get these grades? I never see you study."

So his dad hauls him off to St. Mary's saying, "The nuns will take care of you." And they did. His tough, disciplinarian father was ably supplemented by the principal at St. Mary's Boys High School, Sister Mary Honora, John called her "stern, but motherly," and she had a Ph.D. in Latin.

John's travel to St. Mary's was a tough commute. Lacking the money for the bus, he usually hitchhiked, although the father of one of the St. Mary's freshmen who also commuted from Revere would sometimes pick John up. The underclassman: Tony Conigliaro.

John learned quickly that those young men who professed an intention to enter the priesthood got extra privileges. He and several of his classmates in the class of 1959 did just that. Seven guys went in, John lasted a year and a half, and none of the others lasted as long.

After leaving the seminary, John went to Suffolk University, then a commuter school on Beacon Hill. He had been accepted at BC as well, but chose Suffolk because they gave him credit for his courses in the seminary. After graduation, he got a teaching job in Revere, and his path soon changed.

His first day teaching was the day after Labor Day, and the day after his brother's wedding. Looking to make a good impression, he dressed in his Madras sport coat and set off to teach of his first class. He was soon intrigued by the teacher across the hall and made several efforts to get her attention. He'd try to chat her up in the halls, but when she finally noticed him she said, rather sternly, "we're supposed to move the kids along."

It must have seemed to John that no poet spoke more beautiful words for he was smitten. He kept pursuing her, proposed to her in October, got a "yes" in November and the couple married in March. The result of their marriage was four children, one boy and four girls.

John taught in Revere for five years, often working two more jobs to make ends meet. Then he learned that Honeywell was looking for teachers to staff a new program in marketing education for their salespeople. He took the job (there's that fork), but soon found that he'd rather be in sales than teaching salespeople, and rose through the ranks to become a sales manager. He stayed there for a few years, then went to work for Digital Equipment Company.

While at DEC, he got interested in a DEC venture that the company abandoned: data cabling. DEC was about to go though a major restructuring and, while John's job was safe, he decided to take the buyout package anyway. What followed was a tough four years, business-wise. John worked out of his living room trying to drum up business. It worked. The company became successful and John is its chairman, while his son is the president. Communication Technology Service, LLC is a strong player in the distributed antenna systems business. If you don't know what that is, just think really big wi-fi systems. Still confused? It's how you get on Facebook at the ballpark.

It all sounds wonderful, right? Watch out for that fork. In February of 2012, Lorraine A. Destefano Tegan, John's beloved wife, died. John has described her as "a faith-filled person." While others may have withdrawn, gone away to mourn silently, John has not. Lorraine was a trustee at Regis College and a 1963 alumna. After her passing, he joined the Regis board and will become its chair in June. Last year, he made a major donation to Regis and the result is the Lorraine Tegan Learning Commons.

John continues to reach out. He believes in giving back and does so at Brigham and Women's Hospital where he makes pastoral visits to cancer patients, comforting them without regard to their religion. John is a quiet, humble man of great insight and compassion. He espouses a philosophy that is non-judgmental and rich in forgiveness.

He told me that he is a great believer in the Lord's Prayer, especially the part that says, "And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us."

by Glenn Morris