University of New England

Jack Sinclair Ketchum HA '01
Founding President of UNE

Jack Sinclair Ketchum, the founding president of the University of New England and the New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, died in Falmouth, Maine on October 21, 2006, surrounded by his family.  He was 76 years old and had battled Parkinson’s disease for many years. Jack had resided in Kennebunk on his beloved Bonnie View Farm, named after his maternal ancestral home in Prince Edward Island, for more than 35 years.

Born to Jennie Brown Ketchum and Clarence Ketchum on August 30, 1930 in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada, Jack was a naturalized United States citizen.

Jack spent his childhood in Westchester, New York, graduating from Horace Greely High School in 1948.  Jack enrolled at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine but left during his sophomore year because of what he described as lack of motivation and guilt from wasting his father’s money.  While working as a furnace salesman and living in a YMCA in New Hampshire, Jack encountered an elderly man at the pool who advised him that he was a “damn fool” if he didn’t finish his education.  Jack heeded that advice, enrolled at the University of New Hampshire from which he graduated in 1953 with a Bachelor of Science degree.  Highly motivated he enrolled at the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, receiving his MBA in 1955.  To self-finance his entire education, Jack held a series of full and part-time jobs, including making sandwiches in his room and peddling them to Dartmouth students at lunch time.

While in graduate school, Jack married his long-time girlfriend from Bates College, Ruth “Tootie” Bunten.  Jack and Tootie moved to Cohasset, Massachusetts, where they built their first home and began a family, with the births of John and Bruce.  During this period, Jack worked as a production manager for Proctor and Gamble.  After three years of what he called “making soap”, he decided to put his professional life on hold to pursue a life-long dream of being a farmer.  This dream had been fostered by spending childhood summers with his maternal grandparents at Bonnie View Farm on Prince Edward Island, Canada. It was there that Jack developed his love for farming.

This dream was realized when he and Tootie purchased Maple Top Farm in Kennebunk, Maine in April 1959.  Jack purchased 2,000 egg-laying hens and a flock of 100 sheep.  After two years, however, Jack realized that although farming for him was a great way of life, it was no way to make a living and educate four children.  Abandoning the hens, Jack maintained his flock of 100 sheep as an avocation through most of his life.  The farm was his source of strength and where he sought comfort and privacy throughout the rest of his life.  His John Deere tractor, periodically upgraded and named the Ida-Jean, became a treasured companion.

Two more children were added to the family during Jack and Tootie’s first years in Maine, rounding the ranks to three boys and one girl: John, Bruce, Peter and Caroline.  Jack led his life in an incredibly efficient way, managing to carry on a busy professional life while reserving time for family and personal interests.  Beginning in the mid-1960s, summers were the time for family trips. These included many car camping expeditions that stretched as far away as Alaska and a trip to visit Jack’s brother in Germany.  In 1980, Jack and his children lost his beloved wife and companion and their much loved mother to cancer.  Caroline left for her freshman year at Alfred University as they all attempted to rebuild their lives without the nurturance and love of Tootie.

Jack resumed his professional career in 1961, joining Union Mutual Life Insurance Company as a securities analyst and portfolio manager.  His talents recognized, Jack became Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of Union Mutual and later President of Union Mutual’s subsidiary investment company.  Jack’s consistent success over these years in portfolio management earned him notoriety in the larger financial community and established him as a leading businessman in Southern Maine.

Being the fiercely independent person he was and seeking change, Jack left Union Mutual in 1974 and established himself privately as a business and financial appraiser.  It was during this period that Jack was contacted by a member of the board of St. Francis College in Biddeford, Maine.  Asked to help them assess the enrollment-troubled St. Francis’ potential for survival and   restore its financial stability, Jack counseled the St. Francis Board to “close their doors.”  Offered the position of President, a position he turned down three times, Jack reluctantly agreed to serve “temporarily” as President part-time so that he could maintain his appraisal practice.

The Founding of UNE
In  the winter of 1975, Jack had had a conversation with his neighbor which would ultimately lead to the creation of both the University of New England (UNE) and the New England College of Osteopathic Medicine (NECOM).  During the period St. Francis College was seeking survival direction, a group of physicians had organized the New England Foundation for Osteopathic Medicine (NEFOM) in order to create an Osteopathic medical school in New England.  The neighbor, William Bergen, D.O. and Jack shared their current pursuits while ice-skating on Bergen’s pond.  While talking, the two men suddenly saw the mutually beneficial possibilities of collaboration.  Representatives from St. Francis College and NEFOM met and the rest is history.
   
Jack’s relationship with St. Francis College seemed providential and predestined.  As Chief Investment Officer for Union Mutual during the late 1960s, Jack approved a loan to the Franciscan Fathers of Maine for construction of a new library at St. Francis College, a library which would later be dedicated as the Jack S. Ketchum Library of the University of New England.  Jack later concluded that the loan was the “worst business decision of my life and it cost me ten years of hard labor”.  Jack’s appointment made national news because it was the first time in U.S. history that a lay person had been named president of a Catholic college.

Over the next ten years, Jack directed what has been described as one of the most remarkable turnarounds in the history of American higher education.  In 1975 St.Francis had only 350 students and debts nearly double its $2,225,000 operations budget.  Today’s UNE has 3,400 students and is still growing: the school’s operating budget is just over $100 million, with an endowment of $24 million.  The University has earned repeated listings as one of the best regional universities in America by U.S. News and World Report.  Jack had earlier predicted that the University would “grow into its name”…and so it did.

Throughout this entire period Jack remained a dedicated and loving husband and father. He created the pastoral environment the family had sought in Maine, cultivating the land and shepherding his flock at Bonnie View Farm in Kennebunk. As a private citizen, Jack chaired the School Board of the Kennebunks and gave weight to the cause of Laudholm Farm in Wells, Maine by serving as the General Campaign Chairman to create what would become New England’s only National Estuarine Sanctuary.  As a financial investment advisor, Jack advised many businesses and individuals throughout the Northeast.  Jack also served as a director of Consumers Water Company in Portland, Howell Laboratories, Inc. of Bridgton and Columbian Mutual Life Insurance Company in Binghamton, New York.

Speaking years later, Jack commented that creating UNE and the only osteopathic medical school in New England, felt at times like the mythological “Twelve Labors of Hercules.”  To name just a few: gaining faculty consensus for major curriculum changes; securing cooperation from impatient creditors; convincing skeptical state officials to recommend doctoral degree authority; securing federal startup funds; overcoming a gubernatorial veto of state matching funds; obtaining American Osteopathic Association accreditation candidacy; recruiting a qualified medical faculty and entering class; and preparing classroom and laboratory space.

Retirement from UNE
After nearly a decade of tireless effort, Jack stepped down as UNE’s leader deciding that the time was right for a “true academician” to lead the University.  After the inauguration of his successor, Jack served as Chairman of the Board for the next ten years and was named Chair Emeritus in 1991.  During his tenure at UNE, Jack was made an Honorary Alumnus in 2000; was an Honorary Degree recipient in 2001 [Doctor of Humane Letters]; and was awarded the Pioneer of Osteopathic Medicine Medal in 2001, the highest honor awarded by NECOM. Jack was also awarded the highly coveted St.Francis Medal, an award that he cherished.  Until his illness prevented more direct involvement, Jack remained active in the affairs of the University, lending special expertise in financial and corporate planning matters.

In 1981, Jack met his future wife, Theresa Skaling Fortin of Brunswick, Maine.  At the time of their marriage in 1985, Theresa was a Special Assistant Attorney General for Maine and continued in that role while also maintaining a private law practice.  Theresa moved to Bonnie View Farm and she and Jack continued the worldwide travel that Jack had earlier enjoyed with Tootie and their children.  Together Jack and Theresa shared ten children and eighteen grandchildren. During their years together, Theresa attempted to coach Jack through his numerous court appearances as an expert witness and Jack attempted to show Theresa how to assist in the delivery of  baby lambs. Neither was very successful.

Jack also self-published two books.  The first documents the life of his mother, Jennie Brown Ketchum and includes the history of fox breeding and raising on Prince Edward Island for the fur market;  and more specifically, about the Brown family’s adventures and misadventures in that market.  Jack’s second book was his autobiography.

Along with his wife, Theresa Ketchum of Falmouth, Jack is survived by his sister Constance Ketchum of Kennebunk and his children and their families: John Ketchum and Adrienne Dion and their children, Audrey and Michael of Singapore; Bruce Ketchum and Catherine Fogler and her son Tommy of Brunswick; Peter and Nancy Ketchum and their children Frank and Adam of Alpharetta, Georgia; and Caroline Ketchum and Peter Benbenik and their children Sam and Katherine Ketchum of Lancaster, Massachusetts.

Jack also is survived by Theresa’s family, who came to love, admire and treasure  Jack as a member of their family: Anne Marie and James Reilly and their children Meghan and Isabelle of Acton, Massachusetts; Michele and Craig Baranowski and their children Olivia and Juliana of  Falmouth; Debra and Roy Knight and their children Rachael and William and his son Ryan of  South Harpswell; Simone and Lorian Lachance of Brunswick and their children Julie at Unity College and Jason of Ashford, Virginia; Nicole and Scott Farrell and their children Alta and Gabrielle of Falmouth and Richard and Julie Fortin of Brunswick, Maine.  Jack was pre-deceased by his brother Ronald Ketchum of Frankfort, Germany.

During the final years of Jack’s life, he and his family relied heavily on the unfailing friendship and care of Patricia Reynolds of Arundel, Maine.  Her ever-present smile and dedication to Jack provided enormous comfort and relief.

A public memorial service will be held at the Campus Center at The University of New England on Sunday,  November 12, 2006 at 12:00 Noon.

Memorial Donations
The family suggests that memorials may be made to the library or charity of one’s choice.   Memorial donations may be made to:
                                                            
The Jack S. Ketchum Endowed Memorial Scholarship
Attn:  Scott Marchildon, Assistant Vice President
University of New England
716 Stevens Avenue
Portland, Maine 04103