Staff Snapshot: David J. Lemere

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David J. Lemere, member of the Grounds Crew for Facilities Operations and Management

On the job: “The people I work with on the grounds crew are a good bunch of guys, and I enjoy working here,” says Lemere, who has been at Dartmouth for 20 years and has also worked as a janitor and with the labor crew. “I used to do everything around the Green on the smaller machines, but now I run the bigger machines and do all the athletic playing fields. We mow them about every other day; the fields are about an inch and a half high. Students who come up here to play soccer on Burnham Field say it’s one of the best they’ve ever seen.”

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Grounds Crew member David J. Lemere at work on Dartmouth’s athletic fields. He recently earned his high school diploma and is now considering college courses. (photo by Bonnie Barber)

Continuing education: In June 2010, Lemere earned his high school diploma through Kearsage Regional High School’s (North Sutton, N.H.) Adult Diploma program, taking evening classes four nights a week over nine months. “My daughter Megan got into the program and I told my wife, ‘Boy, I’d like to get into that.’ Debbie looked into it and the next thing I know I was going to school the next day,” he says. “I left Mascoma [Valley Regional High School] after junior year and started working. This is something I’d been wanting to do for a long time and it seemed like the right time in my life to do it. I took history, biology, math, English, art, social studies, science, and a health class. It was easier to do now because when you’re my age you’re focused. Now I’m thinking about taking some college courses."

Music man: Lemere, who lives in Lebanon, N.H., enjoys spending time with his four children and four grandchildren. He also plays lead guitar and sings with his daughter in a country-western band called Generations Collide. “I’ve been playing music since I was old enough to walk. Instead of getting a baseball glove or a bat I got a guitar,” says Lemere, who credits his father with fostering his love of music. “We play all around the Upper Valley. We play a lot of cover tunes but we also wrote a couple of songs.”

Bonnie Barber