Don Fagan Remembered

Don Fagan Remembered

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Kristena Jones '03

Don Fagan was my microeconomics and investments professor. Don Fagan was a huge supporter of the DWC Annual Holiday Show. I had spoken to him about some ideas for the show, and we thought it would be awesome if the professors got up on stage and performed, as well as the students. We gathered the entire staff of Business Management Division had several meetings about their act; next thing you knew, they were performing their act on stage — all dressed as elves in Santa's workshop!! They even had pointy ears and pointy shoes!! Hehe, what a sight. Professor Fagan made it all happen.

He truly touched all students' lives, in so many different and unique ways, it's so incredible to have known Don Fagan. My condolences to the family, and to the entire DWC community. Don Fagan will be greatly missed, but he truly lives on in the memories of his students

John Blackwell '94

Don was passionate about his teaching and his friendships. I got to know him for both. I enjoyed the many hours spent discussing world economics, politics, and all with a good cup of coffee.

One memory that I share with my own students now is Don's constant warnings about his tests. Often they were open-book, but tough! He would present at least one problem on the board one week before the test and state: "This very problem WILL be on the test. I promise you. It will be exactly the same problem. I also guarantee that at least three of you will get it completely wrong! <said grinning>"

Thank you Don for your personal help, your excellent teaching, and a marvelous attitude towards life.

Matthew Murray ’99

I can say many things about professor Fagan. He was one of my favorite teachers at DWC. He was always happy and his class was always entertaining. He will be greatly missed.

Ken Weinberg ’89

I also have a favorite "Faganism." Whenever Mr. Fagan found out that a student was from New Jersey, like me, he was always fond of pointing out the following: "New Jersey, the only place in the world where you can get two kinds of water, regular ... and chunky." I've used that quote a hundred times in my previous position as the Hazmat Instructor for United Airlines. I used to claim that it was my ultimate qualification for the job.

My favorite memory of Mr. Fagan was the white water rafting trip to Montreal. Mr. Fagan was right up front in my raft and I was right behind him. The river was a 5++ and we hit a rapid so steep that he just disappeared — that is until the wave knocked him back through the raft. He took out everyone in the raft but me. Unfortunately I lost my oar, so in effect he left me "up a river without a paddle."

I will always remember that Mr. Fagan predicted George Bush (41) would not serve a second term because of the cyclical nature of the economy. He predicted in 1988, prior to the election, that whoever was elected, regardless of party, would be blamed for the poor economy, which would begin to turn around in 1992, and that the next guy would get the credit for the turnaround, just as Reagan had. As I watched the events roll out, I was amazed and remembered his words. That lesson has served me well for nearly 20 years.

Don Fagan was all that is good about DWC. He wasn't a 9–5er. He was always involved. I wish that I had seen him one last time when I was back in NH in '04 just to thank him personally. He was definitely one-of-a-kind, and we are all better off for having known him.

Mike Gillis ’90

I first met Professor Fagan in ’79 while a student at DWC; I took Intro to Business and enjoyed his class. I left DWC after one semester to pursue a career in professional baseball umpiring but continued taking night courses for a couple years during the off season. Don was extremely interested in my baseball career and couldn’t get enough of the stories from my minor league days. Unfortunately, I was released from professional baseball in 1988, but immediately enrolled in some night courses. But first, I had to tell Don about my release, which was the most disappointing event in my young life. I wanted to put a positive spin on it when I went to see him in his office because he was a positive guy. But Donald Fagan could see through the attempts to mask my true feelings of disappointment. He immediately went into counseling mode. He asked me what courses I was taking and after rifling off the courses, Don would make comments like “hold on a second … I think I have that text book somewhere here in my office.” And “who’s teaching that one?” I can still hear him saying that. He began to pile the books up on his desk and before I realized it, all my course text books were being loaned to me. Somehow he knew that my financial situation wasn’t very good and I needed this help. He knew I was having a bad day, and he went way out of his way to make it better.

One summer night around 1992 he came by the ball park in Lowell where I was umpiring. He waved me over in between innings and said, “Why don’t you come by the house after the game, I live just down the street. I’ve done some landscaping and I’d like you to take a look at the place.” We had a nice visit; we walked the yard and talked. He and Eileen asked about my family and how things were going. He was just plain interested in me.

Recently I had been thinking of him and how kind a man he is. I had planned on stopping by to see him. My visit next week was obviously bad timing …hmmm, maybe that bad timing is the reason I got released from baseball. I better get to work on that. Don would have loved that line.

Ryan Collins ’04

I still remember sitting in Professor Fagan's Macroeconomics class. I was a brand new student, much like most of my fellow classmates. We were doing the informal introductions such as name and hometown. It seemed like Professor Fagan had been everywhere and always had a story for a time he had either been through or to someone's hometown. The funny thing was that most of his stories ended with the fact that there was a Dunkin Donuts on the corner of Main Street. I wondered if he really remembered those little details or if he was just counting on the fact that your town, like most, had a Dunkin Donuts on the corner of Main Street.

Regardless, Professor Fagan went out of his way to make you feel at home. His door was always open and the coffee was always hot! Professor Fagan will be missed by all! My condolences to his family and all who had the privilege of knowing him.

Don Shutts

Don and I spent hours in the cafe at different times of the day on numerous occasions. He'd be on his "stogy" and I'd be drinking my coffee. He would share with me the virtue of patience about (as he called them) "The things you can't control"...

We'd be there together with Brother Louis, Lois Rostanzo, Mary Mynot, Jennifer Leblanc (all circa 1974-75) and many others.We'd all listen to his humor, pointed lessons about growing up, learning what "true" responsibility and leadership were. Never once did any of us ... including Don, leave that table without a "belly laugh" of one sort or another.

Sad for me to say and my Prayers go out to his Family ... There goes another FRIEND I wanted to "catch-up with" ( I was looking forward to the end of the month...) and wasn't able to ... in time.

For all those who had contact, dialog, intense conversations, et al ... through the years, Don definitely made an impact on your life. The great thing was ... the image was short term as well as long term. Thousands of times I have visualized our conversations in the cafe against the back wall ... (I'm sure it's changed now) and I could always muster a smile because of them. I will miss him, as I'm sure others will.

God Bless to his family and all who are better for having known him.

Professor Carol Lerch

I wanted to say goodbye and thank Don for making me feel so much a part of DWC when I first arrived. I always enjoyed his stories when he would stop by my office before class. I will miss those visits. Through his example, he encouraged many people to do things they might never have tried. We will miss him.