25 Years of Service, Three Times Over

(above) Jill Cavalieri, Tim Jennings, and Mary McCarthy dedicated a combined 75 years of service to Cardigan! Their hard work and attention to detail will be felt on campus for years to come.

The average tenure of an employee at a U.S. company is 4.1 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Even when considering older employees, between the ages of 55 and 64, the average tenure is still only 9.9 years. Cardigan, on the other hand, employs people who regularly dedicate decades of their lives to the school. 

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This year, three members of the community, who have all served Cardigan for over 25 years, are retiring. It’s a timespan that tends to blur the lines between professional partnerships and personal friendships. While all three say their work at Cardigan has been satisfying and fulfilling, they also cite that their reasons for staying had a lot more to do with community and friendship.

“For 25 years, I came to a beautiful place and spent my days with a lot of really energetic and interesting people,” says Tim Jennings P’05 who retired from his position as the director of facilities planning and construction at the end of May. “Eating lunch in the dining hall was probably one of my favorite times of day. Over the years, we’d sit together and talk about everything.”

“I owe this school a big thank you. Every morning for 25 years, I got up and came here; it is my second home. I will find it hard to not have this school in my life every day.” 

Mary McCarthy

Tim began his career in June 1999, leaving behind a decade of service as the director of public works in Enfield, NH. Under his watchful eye, the campus has grown exponentially; a comprehensive list of buildings that have been constructed and/or renovated during his tenure is too long to include here but would include the Commons, Wallach, McCusker Hall, and Campbell Field. 

“Tim’s knowledge of Cardigan’s facilities is wide and deep,” says Director of Development and International Relations Joe Burnett ’95, P’25. “No matter the project, he was always approachable and reliable. With his hands-on approach, he took care of everything behind the scenes, right down to the dedication plaques.” 

“He was, and is, a soft-spoken man who never needed to raise his voice in order to be heard,” agrees Director of Leadership and Planned Gifts Sandy Hollingsworth. This spring the community recognized Tim’s legacy, naming the school’s new boathouse in his honor.

But Tim’s impact on the community went far beyond the physical campus; his connection to the people was equally important––a skill he says he learned from Director of Athletics Jim Marrion H’03, P’88, GP’03,’05,’14. “I never heard that man say anything negative about anybody,” says Tim. “He’d be talking in a group of three or four people, and he would make sure that he opened that ring up to where you could join in. He just was always conscious of everybody around him. He would even know the names of our contractors before I did; I’d never seen anybody do that before. He made me realize how important that actually is.”

“The people I worked with at Cardigan are now my friends. I’m the pied piper of kayaking, and we now ski together in the winter too.” 

Jill Cavalieri

Mary McCarthy, who is the second Cardigan community member this year to retire after 25 years of service, knows Tim’s kindness and personal approach to leadership better than anyone. Mary began working in the Housekeeping Department at Cardigan in 1998, and when she went through some personal hardships three years later, Tim counseled Mary to take some personal time off. She returned six weeks later, and by 2008, even before Mary knew she was ready, Tim asked her to take over as the head of housekeeping. “At first, I told them they were crazy, so they hired a man who lasted only nine months,” says Mary. “When Tim asked me again, I said yes. From that day on Tim always had my back and was always there to help.” 

Together the pair has led the exceptional crews that have kept Cardigan in outstanding condition for over two decades–cleaning the dorms and classrooms, making repairs to the buildings and grounds, keeping the school’s infrastructure humming efficiently in the background so its residents can focus on the important work of educating middle school boys.

And while their work often involved hard, physical labor, Mary remembers the lighter moments as well. “When [faculty member] Ryan Sinclair first came to Cardigan, for some reason he decided to scare me any chance he got,” she says. “One time I chased him with a mop and after that he found other ways to tease me.”

“In my early years here (a long time ago), I used to have way too much energy,” Ryan admits. “It became almost routine for me to hide in the various nooks and crannies around campus, eagerly awaiting Mary’s arrival just to surprise her with a playful scare. Despite the initial shock, Mary always responded with laughter, and our encounters would often segue into delightful conversations.”

“For 25 years, I came to a beautiful place and spent my days with a lot of really energetic and interesting people. Eating lunch in the dining hall was probably one of my favorite times of day. Over the years, we’d sit together and talk about everything.” 

Tim Jennings P’05

A third retiree after 25 years of service is Jill Cavalieri who worked in the Business Office as the school’s comptroller beginning February of 1999. “The number of people employed by Cardigan has increased significantly since I first started, so the responsibilities of the position have really changed,” says Jill. “But the benefits also increased. When I first started, we just had health insurance. Now we have dental, and we have HSA, and we have FSA, and we have life insurance.” And while Jill’s colleagues will tell you that she took her responsibilities in human resources seriously and conducted herself professionally, she developed strong friendships as well.  

“The people I worked with at Cardigan are now my friends,” she says. “I’m the pied piper of kayaking, and we now ski together in the winter too.”

What else has she taken with her? “I call them my antique azaleas,” she says. “When the Commons was built, they were getting rid of several azalea bushes, so I drove in with a truck that day and picked up three huge ones.” But three was more than enough, so when her colleague Karen Colburn took an interest, Jill offered to deliver one to her house: “I drove to her house, and her husband wasn't there, and it was just the two of us. We had to struggle so hard. We finally got it off, and it just plopped on the ground, and part of it broke. It was hysterical. So she has one, and I have two of them at my house.”

Cardigan owes a great deal to the professional dedication of these individuals who all departed the campus this spring. Their impact on the physical campus and its financial stability will be felt long after they are gone, but as it is with most friendships, what they have given they have also received. 

“I owe this school a big thank you,” says Mary. “Every morning for 25 years, I got up and came here; it is my second home. I will find it hard to not have this school in my life every day.” And chances are, Cardigan won’t be the same either. Fortunately, although their tenure at Cardigan may have come to an end, Jill, Mary, and Tim continue to be our friends, and we can’t wait for them to visit.