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Jan. 21, 2005
 Gerard B. Lavery died Jan. 21 at his family’s home in Minot, Maine, at 71.
Associate professor emeritus, Mr. Lavery had taught 34 years in the classics department at Holy Cross, retiring in 1995; he had served as the chairman of the department from 1971-74.
Mr. Lavery received both his master’s degree and Ph.D. from Fordham University in New York City; while pursuing his Ph.D., he taught at his alma mater, Regis High School, in New York.
He is survived by a sister; nephews; nieces; grandnephews; and grandnieces.
Blaise Nagy, professor of classics at the College, offers the following reflection on Mr. Lavery and his career at Holy Cross:
“By word and example, Gerry profoundly affected the lives of the students he taught and the colleagues with whom he shared Fenwick Four. For those of us who worked with him in the classics department, there is not a day that goes by that we don’t think of him and reminisce about his good-natured witticisms and his constant bonhomie. He was a man of enormous erudition, who knew pretty much everything that was worth knowing about ancient Greece and Rome and who generously shared his knowledge with colleagues. His many years at Holy Cross were marked by an unstinting dedication to his students and by a conviction that, in the classroom, nothing can take the place of a close reading of the texts. His pedagogy was old-fashioned and void of all gimmickry; it was also very effective, as countless of his former students will testify. Requiescat in pace.”
Following is a tribute by one of Mr. Lavery’s former students, L. Michael “Lee” Fratantuono ’95:
Professor Lavery told us in Lucretius class that the greatest poets “always leave their readers asking for more.” I thought of that line both when he retired from Holy Cross and when I received the news of his passing. I am reminded of his influence every time I realize I have borrowed some idea, technique, turn of phrase or metaphor from his classes in my own teaching. Several of us from Professor Lavery’s final years on Mount Saint James are now spread across the country, teaching our own classics courses. It seems hard to believe. But, in great part, each one of us who had him as a professor and mentor owes a debt of gratitude to him for what we have accomplished. He was a man of quiet, private wisdom and deeply felt Catholic faith. He could teach more with a glance than many of us can with a whole period of words. Thank you, Professor Lavery. Your influence on us was incalculable. You left us too soon. We mourn. We ask for more.
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