Boys & Girls Club of Woburn renamed for former Club member and president

WOBURN – On Saturday, September 20, the former Boys & Girls Club of Woburn announced that its board of directors recently voted to adopt a new name: James L. McKeown Boys & Girls Club of Woburn, Inc. The announcement was made to more than 250 guests during a grand celebration of the Club’s 50th anniversary, held under a tent on the Club grounds.

The naming honors an extraordinarily popular Woburn native and Winchester resident. A widely acknowledged business leader, “Jamie,” as he was known to all, died of a heart attack in 1996, at the age of 41.

The Club currently has 1,500 members aged 8-18 from Woburn and surrounding communities. It serves another 500 youth through community outreach programs.

McKeown attended Woburn High School and graduated from Salem State University magna cum laude in 1977. He then earned a master’s degree in Elementary School Administration from University of Vermont.

With very few teaching jobs available at that time, McKeown changed his career plans and, in 1979, joined local commercial real estate firm Cummings Properties as a leasing agent. He rose quickly up the career ladder, becoming leasing manager, vice president, executive vice president, and in 1990, president.

McKeown had a lifelong association with Boys & Girls Club of Woburn. He was selected “Boy of the Year” in 1974 and then, during his college years, worked at the Club as aquatics director.

During his remarks at the Club’s anniversary party, Bill Cummings, founder of Cummings Properties and president of Cummings Foundation, said, “Jamie’s mother, who now lives in Florida, told me just a few days ago that at one point she thought that the Club might try to adopt Jamie, because he was here all the time.”

McKeown was the first alumnus of the Club to be elected a director and then its president.

“Jamie’s significant impact on the Club is still felt today, 18 years after his passing,” said Shaun Briere, president of what will be known informally as the Jamie McKeown Boys & Girls Club. “I cannot think of a more fitting way to kick off the Club’s second half-century than to honor Jamie’s many contributions with this naming.”

Among the guests at Saturday’s celebration were 11 former Club presidents, about 20 former Youths of the Year, Mayor Scott Galvin, State Senator Kenneth Donnelly, and State Representatives James Dwyer and Jay Kaufman. McKeown’s wife, Denise, and his daughters, Kelly and Molly McKeown, also attended.

Jamie McKeown was very active in the Woburn Business Association, and at the time of his death, was treasurer of the Woburn Industrial Finance Authority. In Beverly, he was the primary force behind Cummings Properties’ acquisition of the former United Shoe Machinery Corporation property and its subsequent transformation into Cummings Center, the North Shore’s largest office and technology park.

Each year since 1997, Denise McKeown has represented Cummings Foundation at the presentation of two large McKeown Scholarships – one in Woburn and one in Winchester – honoring the “Most Outstanding High School Senior” in each community. Shortly after McKeown’s death, The James L. McKeown Elementary School in Beverly was named in his honor, as was the James L. McKeown Interchange of Interstate 93 in North Woburn.

About Cummings Foundation

Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings of Winchester, Mass. With assets exceeding $1 billion, it recently joined Barr Foundation and The Boston Foundation as one of the three largest foundations in New England. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including two New Horizons retirement communities in Marlborough and Woburn.

The Foundation’s largest commitments to date include $50 million to Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in North Grafton, Mass and $15 million to Dr. Paul Farmer’s Partners In Health for its vital global health work in Rwanda. Additional information is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.