Harvey G. Clermont ’61
In an age when the art of medical care fights against the reins of bureaucracy and commerce, Jerry Clermont can serve as a beautiful example of what a true healer should be. For while his accomplishments as a physician are both varied and exemplary, it is his career-long insistence on compassion and service that has made him an icon of humanitarian concern.
After graduation from Holy Cross, Jerry went on to Harvard Medical School where he earned his M.D. Upon completing a surgical internship and residency at the University of Rochester, he served as a medical officer at the Naval Station in Adak, Alaska. From 1973 until this past fall, he was a general and vascular surgeon with The Fallon Clinic. Currently in private practice, Jerry has served on countless boards and committees and has won numerous awards—including the University of Massachusetts Surgical Teacher of the Year and the University’s Gentleman in Surgery Award. He has written scholarly papers that have been published in the foremost medical journals.
But we gather here tonight to pay tribute to Dr. Clermont for the example that is his life. Jerry Clermont has always combined his gift for healing with his faith in the gospel message. Jerry has cited his parents as the inspiration for his dedication, as well as his Alma Mater, where he heard Dr. Tom Dooley speak about his missionary work in Laos in the 1950s.
Ignited by these examples, Jerry committed to caring for and comforting the most vulnerable among us. In 1980, he founded the local branch of Heal the Children, an international organization that sends doctors to Third World countries. In 1986, he founded C.H.A.N.G.E (Children’s Health Care and Nutritional Goals Through Education), an organization that has brought sick and malnourished children from around the world to Central Massachusetts, where they were cared for by local families while receiving free medical aid. In 1996, Jerry founded the St. Anne’s Free Medical Program, which treats those in need whether they reside next door or in Africa, Brazil or Vietnam.
Jerry and his wife, Ann Marie, are the parents of 10 children. Over the years, they have provided care and shelter to 30 foster children.
For his tireless efforts on behalf of the children, his example as one who has used his immense talents for the benefit of the helpless, for his relentless embrace of the qualities of compassion and service, the College of the Holy Cross presents to Harvey Gerald Clermont the Sanctae Crucis Award.