Renaissance Man

It’s not essential that a librarian be a good welder, but it can come in handy. John Beauregard ’53 (who passed away last fall) picked up that skill as a teen in his uncle’s garage, and when Jenks Library needed a handcart some years back, he bought one at a yard sale and fixed it with a welding torch. He repaired books, too. Neither task was in his job description as the library’s director.

“He never asked anyone to do anything he wouldn’t do himself,” his colleague Randy Gowman says.

Beauregard also coached Gordon’s hockey team for years, and played into his 60s. He followed boxing, too—true to his roots in Rocky Marciano’s hometown of Brockton, MA. An ordained minister, he served churches, Bible schools and camps in Maine for 10 years, and later was the interim pastor
of dozens of Baptist churches across New England.

During his three decades as director of Jenks Library, Beauregard developed the College Archives and helped to create Massachusetts’ first extensive consortium of local and academic libraries. After he retired from Gordon, he became the interim library director at nearby Endicott College—and later returned to Gordon as the College Archivist for six more years. His “real” retirement from Gordon came in 2009.
 

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