Remembering Jack Reardon, ‘the best of the University personified’

John P. Reardon — Jack to everyone who knew him — had a superpower for seeing others’ potential when they couldn’t see it themselves. Whether it was a high school kid applying to Harvard College, a struggling student athlete, or one of the countless colleagues who sought out his advice, Reardon devoted his more than six decades at Harvard not just to the institution but to the people who define and animate its mission.

“There are hundreds of stories like that,” said Tom Reardon about his brother, “where at just the right moment he was able to encourage somebody or open their eyes to their own potential, or provide a thought that then changed the course of how they were going at things, so it was an amazingly well-lived life.”

Reardon, whose leadership posts at Harvard included director of admissions, director of athletics, and executive director of the Harvard Alumni Association, died June 23 at his home in North Weymouth. He was 88.

“Jack Reardon was an extraordinary member of our community whose love and respect for Harvard drew out the best in all of us,” President Alan Garber said. “He is one of a few people who devoted much of his adult life to Harvard while truly living the values and highest character of our University — the best of the University personified. He will be much missed, but his legacy of commitment, humility, and friendship will live on for years to come.”

In addition to his brother, Reardon is survived by his wife of 37 years, Jane.

Tom Reardon recalled seeing his brother’s gift for mentorship and friendship up close, as a colleague at Harvard, where Tom served as the University’s vice president for alumni affairs and development and in other roles across campus.

“We worked together as professionals for 50 years and spoke almost daily for 85 years,” Tom said. “He was a warm, wonderful human being, and the genuine nature of who he was carried through in his personal relationships.”

Jack, who grew up in Cohasset, got his deep sense of caring from his parents. His mother, Rosamond T. Reardon, was a schoolteacher, while his father, John P. Reardon Sr., was a surgeon turned local practitioner.

“[Our father] had a profound influence on a lot of families, and I think Jack saw that and saw the real satisfaction you get out of something like that,” Tom recalled. “I think the combination of mother’s interest in education and the power of intervention at appropriate times — when to speak and when not to.”

Reardon’s earliest encounter with Harvard was as a student — he graduated from the College in 1960. He earned an M.B.A. at the UPenn’s Wharton School and worked at the Boston Redevelopment Authority before returning to the University in 1965 to launch a leadership tenure that spanned multiple decades and departments.

In 2014, he received the Harvard Medal for his service to the University.

“From my early days at Harvard and over the years since, Jack was always present, bringing his warm heart and wise insights,” said Penny Pritzker, senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation. “He believed profoundly in the University’s mission and worked quietly but powerfully to advance and sustain it … His legacy will endure across Harvard for years to come and in the many lives he touched.”

Reardon’s commitment to Harvard extended to service on the boards of the Harvard Cooperative Society, Harvard Magazine, and the Harvard Clubs of Boston and New York. He also served on the board of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. His dedication to education was further reflected in his service as chair of the Cohasset School Committee and as a trustee of both Thayer Academy in Braintree and Roxbury Latin School.

His Catholic faith inspired years of work in the community of St. Anthony Parish in Cohasset as well as St. Paul’s Parish in Cambridge and the Harvard Catholic Center.

“He was fundamentally a very decent human being who cared about his fellow man, whether it was kids or faculty,” Tom Reardon said. “He was totally engaged in people’s lives and caring about them and their development, and that’s what animated his life. It just happened to be in the Harvard context where he found sort of a broad canvas in which he could paint his caring and concerns.”