A true “Renaissance Man”, Jack was born in Williamsburg (Brooklyn), NY in 1950, graduated from Stuyvesant High School, and attended Queens College, dropping out to experience life. Always curious and a voracious reader, Jack displayed a profound knowledge of a vast array of topics; horticulture, geology, paleontology, astronomy, relativity, medicine, to name a few.
His life’s resume includes managing a chain of tropical fish stores, obtaining a Bachelors of Arts degree in Anthropology from Adelphi University, an ABD (all but dissertation) in the doctoral program of Anthropology at UMass Amherst, and an MBA from UMass in 1983. President of the UMass Graduate Student Senate and the People’s Gay Alliance (now the Pride Alliance), Jack disc jockeyed at many of the 5-college Gay & Lesbian events and at the Frontier Gay Bar in Springfield. Jack met and married fellow student, his husband, Jacques (Jay) Gagne, in 1982.
After graduation, Jack and Jay moved to Boston, where Jack became first, the Manager of Budgeting and Cost Accounting, then Director of Consulting and Research Services, for Blue Cross/ Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Always the showman, Jack participated in amateur theatrics in the Footlight Club production of "The Philadelphia Story" as Uncle Willie. As ring-master of Roz’s Productions, under the auspices of the Coat of Arms Guesthouse, Jack inspired and created the mad-capped chaos generated by a small group of friends participating in Ptown’s annual Carnival Parade, winning 1st prize for Walking Contingent three years in a row (for Roz’s Diner, The Sound of Music, and the Italian Wedding, along with Roz’s Market, Roz’s Beauty Salon, and Roz’s Circus).
An avid gardener, Jack was often found sitting in his extensive garden in the Fenway Victory Gardens, encouraging young gardeners to try new plants, and listening to their life woes. Taking extension classes from Radcliffe School of Design, he achieved a graduate certificate in Landscape Design and along with friends, Dan Fasman and Jon Russo, he started the landscape design firm, Second Nature Designs, before transitioning in later years into Antiques Dealer at antiques co-ops in the Boston Area. When opportunity arose in 2000, Jack and friends, Ed Steblein and Tom Stearns, opened Yesterday’s Treasures in Provincetown. A self-taught artist his entire life, Jack began selling his paintings first at Yesterday’s Treasures and then at the Charles-Baltivik Gallery in Provincetown.
After splitting time between Boston and Provincetown for 14 years, Jack and his husband, Jay, moved full-time to Provincetown in 2014 and became sole owners of Yesterday’s Treasures. They ran the shop together until the pandemic of 2020 forced Jack to remove himself from public exposure and semi-retire, with Jay running the store’s daily operations. A series of unfortunate and unexpected illnesses weakened Jack until he succumbed to heart failure on 01/28/23.
Jack is survived by his grieving husband, Jay Gagne, and Jack's two sisters, Carla Ulrich and her husband, Brian, and Linda Labella and her husband, Joseph, his father-in-law, Donald Gagne, his brothers-in-law, Joseph Gagne and his wife, Jill, and Andy Gagne and his partner, Lori, and numerous nieces and nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews, along with “family” in the Boston, Connecticut, San Francisco, New York, London and the Provincetown area. With a twinkle in his eyes and a joyous smirk, Jack embraced life to its fullest. His warmth, intelligence, compassion and infectious humor will be sorely missed by family and friends.
Instead of flowers, donations may be made in Jack’s memory to the Soup Kitchen in Provincetown, The Aids Support Group of Cape Cod, Helping Our Women, CASAS Animal Shelter, the Human Rights Campaign, Habitat for Humanity, or the Greater Boston Food Bank.
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