Alumni Connecti N - St. Vincent-St. Mary High School

Inverness Country Club in Toledo, Ohio.
In 1945, Jack was inducted in the U.S.
Army and soon sent to the Pacific theatre.
He served with the 158th Regimental
Combat team on the island of Luzon in the
Philippines. They were practicing
maneuvers for an eventual landing in Japan
when President Truman authorized the
historic bombing run for the Enola Gay.
Jack often thought of how many
American men were alive because of
President Truman’s courage and
convictions.
Jack eventually did get to Japan,
however, as part of the army of occupation.
It was not such onerous duty for him
however, for he again found himself on golf
courses. He managed to win the
“Occupation Open” golf championship at
the Kavana Hotel in 1946.
After his war service was concluded,
Jack returned to Notre Dame to continue
his studies. Still playing competitive golf, he
won several more tournaments in 1947,
among them the Indiana Intercollegiate
Championship and the Akron District
Amateur Championship.
Jack turned professional in 1949,
serving as assistant pro at the Firestone
Country Club. In 1950, Jack qualified and
played in the U.S. Open at Merion Cricket
Club in Pennsylvania where he was paired
with Tommy Bolt, who went on to win the
U.S. Open in 1958.
It was now time for Jack to think about
marriage and earning a decent living. In
1951, he married Rosemary Aikey. They
shared 55 wonderful years together.
In 1952 he was hired by Firestone Tire
and Rubber Company as a quality control
inspector in the International Division.
This led, over a thirty year period, to
interesting assignments in different
countries of the world where Firestone had
plants in operation. With ever increasing
responsibility, he was put in charge of
production, marketing and the overall
viability of those factories in foreign lands.
He and Rosemary enjoyed living in so
many different countries and almost all of
his career was spent overseas – Brazil, New
Zealand, Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica and
Australia. The last five years before
retirement, Jack, now a vice president, was
posted to London in charge of Firestone’s
European and African operations.
Upon retirement, Rosemary and Jack
moved to Vero Beach to a condo unit on
the 8th hole of a golf course. What else?! It
was Jack’s intention to golf all year in this
benign climate and he did just that for
quite a few years.
The hurricanes in Florida in 2004 did
much damage to their home. After moving
about a bit, they settled in Regency Park,
a “senior resort community.” Jack was so
glad to have Rosemary in such a caring
supportive community for the final year of
her life. She had been declining in health
for several years and passed away
June 2007.
Jack has continued to live at Regency
Park where the living really is easier.
Although he has spent little time in
Akron during his adult life, he has
maintained an abiding interest in the
welfare of St. Vincent-St. Mary High
School. Jack has made an unrestricted
bequest to STVM; confident the bequest
will be used wisely to further the goals of
this superior educational community. Jack
has never forgotten those formative years at
St. Vincent High School when he was a
student and knows STVM today is such a
special school, and hopes it will continue to
instruct and inspire many more students in
the days and years to come.
Thomas Norman Jesser V53
Thomas Norman Jesser was born in
Akron, Ohio and has remained a life long
resident of Akron. Tom attended St. Vincent
Elementary School and St. Vincent Catholic
High School, graduating in 1953.
Tom was very active during his years at
St. Vincent High School. He was a member
of the baseball team, was awarded the
Chrysler Award his senior year and was the
Co-Editor of the school newspaper “The
Vincentian.” While Tom was co-editor of
the school paper it was awarded “Best
Publication” among Summit County
Schools. Tom was also awarded other
various awards while at St. V.
Tom has so many cherished memories
of his time at St. Vincent High School. His
most affectionate memory is of his English
teacher, Sister Benita. She was a great
influence in Tom’s life and she really
motivated Tom to excel.
After graduation, Tom immediately
joined The United States Army. Tom served
with great pride during the Korean conflict.
During his time in the Army, Tom was
stationed in New Jersey. He decided to
make a trip to New York City to visit with
Cardinal Spellman who was the appointed
chaplain of The United States Military
Forces and the Cardinal for New York City.
During his visit, Tom was given a holy
medal that was blessed by the Chaplain.
Tom decided to send his medal to one of
his favorite St. Vincent High School
teachers who played such an important role
in his life, his English teacher, Sister Benita.
Tom wrote a letter to her explaining where
he had been and the meaning behind the
blessed medal that he was given. He sent
the medal to her and thanked her for the
important lessons that she taught him
during his time at St. Vincent. Sister Benita
was very touched and wrote Tom a letter
telling him how thankful she was and let
him know that it would be worn every day
on her rosary chain. She also made sure
that since she was an English teacher that
she sent back the original letter that Tom
wrote to her with all of the grammatical
corrections that she found in his letter!
After Tom’s term in the Army was
completed and he was discharged as a Staff
Sergeant, he attended The University of
Akron. He was a member of The Lone Star
Fraternity, a member of the Lacrosse team
and began dating again his life-long
sweetheart, Yvonne Berbari. When Tom
said “lifelong” he means it, because he fell
in love with Yvonne in the fourth grade!
They soon were married on October 19,
1957 and they celebrated their 50th
wedding anniversary in 2007.
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