John J. “Jack” Bergeron ’70
JOHN J. “JACK” BERGERON, Burlington, VT, died January 29, 2023. Born and raised in Burlington, VT, Jack gave his best, and then some, in everything he did. If a certain task required five of something, Jack would deliver 10 for good measure. Every time. This was the Jack Bergeron way.
At Saint Michael’s, Jack channeled his energy into athletics. He was never the biggest guy on the team, but his determination was unmatched. On the cross-country course, the soccer field, and the ski hill, Jack left his competitors wondering how they had been beaten by such a scrawny-looking kid.
As college came to a close in 1970, Jack added academics to the list of things he could succeed at if he worked hard enough, and off he went to Washington, D.C., for law school at Catholic University. But not before he met Cathy, in 1969, in the trunk of a car, on a blind date, when mutual friends snuck them into a drive-in movie. Neither were typically rule breakers, but this auspicious beginning of a lifelong relationship just goes to show that some rules are made to be broken.
Jack returned to Burlington as a married man and prosecutor working in the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office. After three years of trial experience, and with his usual quiet confidence, Jack decided to open a private practice. He knew that if he worked hard enough, he’d succeed. At first, his only clients were family and friends, to whom he never wanted to send a bill. But in time, Jack became known as a skilled litigator, and paying clients came knocking.
Jack went on to co-found Bergeron Paradis & Fitzpatrick in 1989, where he spent the rest of his career, and where his law partners became lifelong friends. Jack loved his work. The adversarial nature of litigation tapped into his natural competitiveness, providing a landscape where hard work equaled good results. However, it was the people—the attorneys he worked with and against, his staff, and his clients—who made his career so meaningful for him.
He explored his creative side through self-taught skills, including working with stained glass, making furniture, hand-carving duck decoys, fly-tying, and beekeeping. He ran marathons, hiked, and skied throughout Europe and North America; often ran up Camel’s Hump before work on a summer morning; and, with his most enduring passion, rode his bike many thousands of miles over decades. In everything he did, Jack was good-natured, kind, and generous. He contributed freely to worthy causes and enjoyed serving on the Saint Michael’s Board of Trustees for nine years, as well as the Board of Saint Anne’s Shrine. Jack was named an alumnus of the year in 2015.
Jack was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2016, meeting the disease head on, accepting what was to come, and showing much courage and grace. He never once complained; he maintained that he was “lucky in life.” He lived his last years the only way he knew how: still biking and skiing when he should have been walking; then still walking when he should have been sitting. He fought hard to the end. Doing things the Jack Bergeron way meant that he packed 150 years of life into his 75 years on this earth. In life, illness, and even death, Jack did a good job. He will always be remembered as being a good man.
Jack was predeceased by his parents, Pauline and Urban (Saint Michael’s Class of ’39) Bergeron. He is survived by his beloved wife Cathy; three children; three grandchildren; and extended family members, including his sister Jane Guyette M’96 and nephews Ben Bergeron ’99 and Matt Bergeron ’01; and countless friends.