By Ryn Williams, Layout Editor
Dr. John Joseph Jr. “Jack” McTague, 77, passed away without pain at his home in Dade City, FL, on Friday, Feb. 11, 2022, after a courageous battle with cancer.
McTague, an Albany, NY, native, earned his Ph.D. from the University of Buffalo and spent much of his career at Saint Leo University before retiring from a full-time position to a part-time position in 2020. His impact spread far beyond the classroom.
A funeral Mass was held the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 23, at Saint Leo Abbey, with a reception following. Classes were cancelled as faculty paid their respects.
McTague was an active figure on campus who attended hundreds of events during his tenure at Saint Leo.
Professor Frank Orlando, an instructor of political science, has fond memories of McTague on campus. Their offices were on the same floor, and the two spoke frequently, usually about sports—specifically basketball.
“When there was an event, I often thought to myself, ‘Well, should I go? Shouldn’t I go? I’m busy, I’m tired,’ but then I always thought, ‘You know, I bet you Jack would be there.’” Orlando said. “And most of the time, he was, and it was great, because you’d have someone to talk with, to hang out with. He gave that example of, you know, ‘Show up to things. Be at things. Support each other.’”
“He just led by example. He was an excellent example of what it means to be a Saint Leo employee,” said Orlando. “I think, to the extent that I understand what it means to work here at Saint Leo, I learned that from Jack.”
McTague’s influence spread to his many students as well.
Burke Tomaselli, who now works at his local high school in Long Island, NY, as he finishes his master’s degree in teaching, graduated in 2016 with two B.A. degrees, one in political science and one in history, and a minor in honors.
“McTague’s classes were always ones where I felt you’d leave every meeting with a new perspective or sense of understanding,” said Tomaselli. “I hope everyone gets to experience having a professor with the passion and dedicated he had.”
Outside of the classroom, McTague was just as supportive.
“I remember seeing him at many events in the boardrooms on campus,” said Tomaselli. “It was so obvious that he loved the environment of Saint Leo, whether that was seeing his students being active or being a part of the Saint Leo community however possible.”
Tomaselli stated that he “absolutely” felt inspired by McTague regarding to his current teaching career.
“Dr. McTague was your favorite professor’s favorite professor. Brilliant professor, better man,” said Tomaselli. “He is missed dearly.”
Tomaselli is not the only student of McTague to pursue the education route. Samantha Ralyea graduated in 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts in history. She is now a teacher Lennard High School, in Ruskin, FL. She had McTague “pretty much every semester” during her time as a student. Every class she shared with him was in the basement of the library.
“Dr. McTague was very knowledgeable in history,” said Ralyea. “It was such a joy to be able to have that knowledge passed on to me.”
Ralyea was a softball player and remembered McTague showing up to her games to watch her pitch. She is now a softball coach.
“Dr. McTague, Dr. DuBois, Dr. Parker, and Dr. Astolfi pushed me always,” said Ralyea. “I am where I am today because of all of them.”
Kat Holzapfel was another student whom McTague impacted. She graduated in 2018 with a B.A. in history and a minor in sociology. She is currently located in Lakeland, FL.
“A lot of the time, I did whatever I could to make him laugh in class,” said Holzapfel. “I was intensely paying attention to his lectures to find something that I could make a joke about to get him to laugh in class.”
Holzapfel reminisced on McTague’s teaching style. “It felt very much like stepping back in time. I always described as the man who’d been around the world twice. He was always like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve been there.’ And then he would have photos and a good chunk of them would be in black and white.”
Holzapfel remembered seeing him at all productions, whether music or theatre. She remarked that he knew “an outrageous amount of information.”
“I’m not a woman of faith, but in my head, I feel like him and Doug are kind of hanging out together now again because I know that they were close,” Holzapfel said. “Those two men truly got me through college. Jack and Doug were the two that made me love history, made me stay with the degree and everything like that.”
Dr. Douglas “Doug” Astolfi, a professor of history at Saint Leo, passed away shortly after his retirement in 2018. The two professors were reportedly close friends.
Bella Bains, a graduate student at the University of Arizona, pursuing a dual degree in Middle Eastern/North African studies and public administration, graduated in 2016 with a B.A. of arts and history minoring in English and honors.
“He was the first person I ever met at Leo, my mom and I were visiting, and we sat down with him,” Bains said. “Looking back on it, I know that he was very kind. He took me seriously, which can be hard to deal with eighteen-year-olds.”
“I had a number of classes with him, but most impactful was his Politics in the Middle East class,” Bains said. “I’m a graduate student, and I rely on that background knowledge from that class… most of my knowledge came from him.”
After graduating from Saint Leo University, Bains spent two years volunteering with the Peace Corps in Morocco. She now works for the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at her campus.
Bains recalled an interaction between McTague and another student during class. “One of the Saudi students said it was hard to read his cursive notes,” said Bains. “[Dr. McTague] came back the next day and said, ‘I can imagine it would have been very hard to read.’ And he changed to print. I realized it was a big deal then… It’s such a small thing, but I thought it was really cool of him, you know, to take into consideration those Saudi students and make adjustments on those habits.”
Emily Mincey graduated from Saint Leo University with a B.A. in history with a minor in world politics in 2016. She was also president of the history honors society. She now works in Washington DC as a senior events planner.
Throughout her four years at Saint Leo, she took every class McTague offered.
“Any class with him was sure to be great,” said Mincey. “Dr. McTague was an amazing professor. He was someone who was truly built for this career.”
“If I had to describe him, I would call him kind, beyond smart, unexpectedly funny, and wonderful,” said Mincey. “I would tell people about seeing the Time Warp at Ralph’s and the Rattlesnake Festival. I would tell people about the time he crashed his motorcycle the day before class, and he laughed it off, actively bleeding, and all the times I had deep belly laughs in talking with him.”
Time Warp—Saint Leo’s faculty, staff, alumni, and student band—has been rocking and rolling since its conception in 1982. It has seen a various members, but one constant has been McTague.
Peter Marian, an instructor of management, recalled meeting McTague for the first time at Ralph’s—or San Ann Liquors—the local lounge where Time Warp performed. He asked McTague if Time Warp needed a guitarist, which was the beginning of a strong friendship between the two.
“The key to being in the band was dedication,” said Marian. “I said, ‘Jack, you know, I’m not a groupie… I’m more of a band aid.’”
Marian took over as an unofficial band manager and self-proclaimed “band-aid.” For the years before Marian, most of Time Warp’s gigs and rehearsals went un-recorded except on private devices. Marian began uploading Time Warp videos to YouTube, created a Facebook page, created flyers, and more.
“One of the last jam sessions we had with Jack was two weeks before he passed,” Marian said. “His wife called me and said, ‘Listen, Jack’s going to come to practice today; please make sure you take some pictures.’ I didn’t think anything of it.”
“We got together, and we practiced, for a little over an hour, and he went home,” Marian continued. “So, for him, I think he wanted to jam with us one last time. One last jam. And it was nice; it was great that we did it.”
“All of us asked him, ‘Do you want Time Warp to continue?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I think it would be great,’” Marian finished.
Janet Franks, a reference librarian at Daniel A. Cannon Memorial Library, met McTague in 2006 when Time Warp was looking for a new backup singer. She auditioned and got the role.
She also said that there are plans in place to rename McTague’s favorite classroom in the library basement, iTeach, after him.
Franks recalled a story of McTague in the cafeteria. She had just finished eating when McTague came and sat with them, and she had half of her sandwich left on her plate. He reached over her plate and ate her sandwich to make sure it wasn’t wasted.
“For a long while afterward, I’d look around for him before I left any food on my plate,” Franks said.
On Feb. 12, 2018, Time Warp performed at Selby Auditorium in Lewis Hall at “Time Warp does the ‘60s,” hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences. Clothing and costumes inspired by the 1960s were “strongly encouraged.”
“He was humble, very friendly,” Franks said. “Was very knowledgeable about, you know, history and music.”
Both Marian and Franks confirmed that McTague educated the audience on each artist before performing their songs. Marian referred to McTague as a “walking encyclopedia of knowledge.”
Dr. Robert Cabot, professor of criminal justice at Saint Leo, was hired five years before McTague. He remembered him as a well-liked and brilliant professor who was “energetic” about teaching. McTague’s classes filled up quickly. It seemed like every student wanted to be in his classes.
“I never heard anyone say anything negative about him,” said Cabot. “You’ll hear kids talking… I’d advise students, and everyone seemed to like being with him.”
Cabot remembered McTague being at men’s basketball games more often than not. Close to his passing, the two attended a Saturday night game.
“Even a week, eight days before he passed, he was still doing as much stuff as he could,” said Cabot. “He was committed to go out on his terms. I’m sure he had his own private moments of distress and worry, but he handled it better than I’ve seen a lot of other people. Better than I’m going to handle it when it comes around.”
“He loved what he was doing,” said Cabot. “and he liked the people he did it with.”
Chuck Fisk, a retired Saint Leo faculty member, shared many years with McTague and Cabot. He was an associate professor of economics who retired after 41 years with Saint Leo and is also in the Saint Leo Athletic Hall of Fame for his work as Saint Leo’s NCAA faculty rep.
He first met McTague when the latter was hired. They quickly became friends. Fisk remembered how McTague “lived” to play basketball, his favorite sport.
Fisk joined Time Warp in 1996 and stayed with the band for 15 years.
“Days before he died, I thanked him for providing one of the best experiences of my life—playing in a rock band,” said Fisk.
Fisk commented on how McTague “always stayed current” in his field, publishing many articles throughout his tenure.
According to Dr. Marco Rimanelli, a professor of politics, international security, and diplomacy at Saint Leo, McTague was an active member of the Florida Conference of Historians. McTague was also a member of the editors’ board of the Florida Political Chronicle, a scholarly journal in which Rimanelli is the editor.
“He remained to the bitter end as an active member,” Rimanelli wrote in the Editor’s Postscript, “Celebrating Emeritus-Professor Jack McTague (1944-2022).”
Professor Beverly Ledbetter, an adjunct professor in the College of Education, met McTague years ago while teaching history at Pasco High School in Dade City, FL. The two served as judges for the Pasco County History Fair.
“It is a national program in which students receive a theme and do research on that theme,” said Ledbetter. “It is a big program in our Pasco middle schools.”
Entries for the History Fair could be exhibits, websites, documentaries, performances, or papers. The two judged the paper category together. Ledbetter said that he sponsored an award for students of the fair.
She described him as “well respected” by student teachers, and that he was a “thoughtful, passionate man who believed the truth in history.”
Dr. Elisabeth Aiken, an associate professor of English and associate chair of the interdisciplinary studies department, remembered McTague. Aiken was the first employee hired at Saint Leo for the “instructor” position. McTague sought out her experience when the University was seeking to hire an instructor for the history department.
“He came to talk to me about what my position looked like, what the requirements were, was I satisfied with it,” Aiken said. She took maternity leave during McTague’s search. “When I came back, I went to find Jack right away. He told me that they had actually hired an assistant professor, but he was very happy with it. He was really interested in my experience at Saint Leo, how I got to know the university. He reached out as a friend.”
Aiken said that she felt inspired by how McTague found fulfillment in teaching and that he was “foundational” for so many faculty.
“He’ll be missed. Having been at Saint Leo for 16 going on 17 years, I think I took it for granted that almost every time I walked in or out of St. Ed’s, I would see Jack somewhere, walking to or from class with his coffee mug, ready to greet and ask how classes were going, seeing him on various committees and whatnot,” said Aiken. “I do miss seeing him.”
The assistant professor McTague hired went on to become the dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, Dr. Heather Parker.
The first time Parker met McTague was during her phone interview for the previously stated position. She described him as “very warm” during her first impression.
“Anyone in Saint Edward Hall could hear his signature laugh throughout the day,” said Parker. “He truly loved being at Saint Leo.”
“He was a world traveler,” said Parker. “We always knew that as soon as the semester was over, he would be headed to a different place in the world.”
McTague visited over 40 countries during his life. He had a house in Albany, NY, where he would stay for a few weeks before heading off to a different part of the world.
McTague always stayed updated on politics and sports, reading the newspaper every day. Parker remembered him reading the newspaper in his office in St. Edward’s Hall, while Cabot remembered him reading the newspaper while getting breakfast at the cafeteria before his classes.
Dr. Daniel DuBois, an associate professor of history, also met McTague during the hiring process at Saint Leo.
“I could immediately tell how devoted he was to the school and to the students. And I came from a small liberal arts university, and professors like Jack had made a huge impact on my life,” DuBois said. “So to see that that was the program I was coming into, was the reason why I chose to come to Saint Leo.”
“He and Heather and Doug, before Doug passed, took an incredible role mentoring me, teaching me what it’s like to be a college professor and what Saint Leo is about,” said DuBois.
At the funeral for McTague, DuBois recalled a woman he had never met sobbing. When they spoke, he found out that she was not one of McTague’s students and had never gone to Saint Leo, but instead knew him through community theatre.
“She came, just heartbroken because that is the impression that he had made on her,” DuBois said. “I think that was a great testament to what he was like as a person.”
“He was as well-traveled as anybody you would ever meet,” DuBois concluded. “As open-minded as anybody you could hope to meet. A dedicated teacher to the end.”
Time Warp is planning on playing again in the first week of May at Ralph’s. The date is to be decided, though Marian stressed that all previous Time Warpers should show up with their own instruments. More information will be announced on Time Warp’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/bandwarp.
Contributions for the “Jack McTague Scholarship Award” can be made to the Heritage Arts Association, P.O. Box 1131, Dade City, Florida, 33526.
