LESTER ARMAND MENEGAY III

MENEGAY, L. Armand

Lester Armand Menegay, III died at his home in Centerville on Cape Cod on November 11,

2022 after a nine-year battle with Interstitial Lung Disease. Karin, his beloved wife of 32 years,

was at his side. A man of many talents and accomplishments, Armand is perhaps best

remembered for his empathy—he truly cared about the other guy.

Armand was born in Danbury, Connecticut on March 12, 1959 and grew up in the small

neighboring town of Bethel. He loved to say that he shared his birthday with the founding of

the Girl Scouts. At Bethel High School he was, quite simply, a star. Voted "Most Popular," "Best

Personality," and "Handsomest" by his classmates (at an admittedly small school), Armand also

threw the discus and shot put. He excelled on the gridiron, playing both offensive and defensive tackle

back in the days when young men played both ways, and was named All-Conference for his offense and

All-Area for his defense. He was cast as an oversized ballerina in the Junior Show, and as one of

Snow Whites "Tall Dwarfs" in his Senior Play. Finally (and we're not making all this up, it can be

verified in the 1977 yearbook), he was, of course, the Homecoming King.

Armand then matriculated at Boston College as a premed student, but moved over to the

Carroll School of Management after his organic chemistry class convinced him that medicine

was not his true calling. Assigned as a freshman to live with upperclassmen in the BC Mods, he

was fast-tracked into college life. His college days were rewarding and fun, and Armand

fortunately was dedicated enough to graduate Magna Cum Laude from BC with a Bachelor of

Science in Finance in 1981.

He then embarked on a long and stellar corporate career as an information technology

consultant. Based in the Boston area, he worked in a variety of positions for several firms

overseeing large IT projects. In positions at Arthur Anderson (1981-1986), The MAC Group

(1986-1993), Accenture Consulting (1993-2000), Fidelity Investments (2000-2013) and finally

TIAA-CREF (2013 until his lung diagnosis forced his early retirement in 2014), he managed large

teams consisting of hundreds of people with multi-million dollar budgets on a variety of

complex enterprise-wide projects. As IT Director at the MAC Group, he was dubbed the

"puppet master" for his mastery of motivating people to get the job done. Known by his peers

as a "fixer," he specialized in taking over troubled projects and coaxing them to success. When

tensions ran high, he introduced calm and kept the underperforming team together, solved the

underlying problem, and put the project back on track. During his long tenure at Fidelity, some

of his less tech-savvy friends, who didn't really understand what he did for a living (and still

don't), assumed he could nudge their 401K balances up, but Armand repeatedly assured them

that he couldn't, and even if he could, he wouldn't.

On February 14, 1986, Armand met his forever Valentine; it was love at first sight in (where

else?) a bar in Boston. He asked Karin that first night for a date the following Saturday —and

every Saturday thereafter. They married on September 8, 1990, settled in Wellesley, and

quickly started a family, with Armand IV arriving in 1993 and Sofia in 1996. Always deeply

devoted to his family, Armand began pursuing assignments that demanded less work travel. In

2004, connecting to Karin's lakeside roots, he bought a house on Wequaquet Lake in Centerville

to invest in more family time. Armand, however, was partial to the ocean so Centerville, on

Cape Cod's bicep, offered the best of both worlds. Many family memories were created in that

summer home, and he and Karin moved there permanently in 2017. A believer in staying

connected, he joined the board of the Wequaquet Lake Protection Association.

Armand was a smart and a discerning reader: history (American and European, ancient and

modern), biography (everyone from Churchill and Truman to Einstein), sports (baseball to

boxing),and wherever else his boundless curiosity took him. He was knowledgeable and

conversant on a variety of subjects and loved nothing more than spending an evening drilling

deep into a subject with a friend. An informed sports fan, he was loyal to the local Boston

teams but, all things being equal, would always root for the underdog. He had an unmatched

sense of humor, what some would term a "dry wit," and prided himself on making people

laugh—indeed, he said that was usually his goal. He could keep a straight face while pulling one

of his many pranks while his cohorts were losing it, but could also gracefully concede when a

prank was played on him. And he loved to cook, brandishing his very own chef pans for friends

and family.

Armand loved the best of everything and appreciated quality. He traveled extensively and

well. As a young single man, he took exotic vacations with his friends: sailing the Caribbean,

canoeing the Amazon, and camping on a camera safari in Africa, to name a few. (Those

adventures influenced his wardrobe; long before cargo shorts he was a man of many pockets.)

Work took him to India several times and all over Europe and the United States He explored

the Caribbean several times with his family, and recalled that the most fun he may have ever

had in his life was with them in the Cayman Islands.

Above all, Armand was the most empathetic person you could ever know. He was always

first to ask about you and your family, and how you were doing, before even thinking of talking

about himself—if necessary redirecting the conversation away from himself to you. This was

reflected in his collegial management style that was the direct opposite of autocratic—many of

those he supervised became his friends. It was also, frankly, reflected in how he gracefully

handled his long and painful battle with Interstitial Lung Disease. Living nine years with that

disease when the average life expectancy is three to five, he remained stoic and even cheerful.

Rather than expressing remorse that he was no longer able to do the fun and exciting things his

family and friends were doing, he instead wanted to know the details and delighted in their

happiness. Rather than complain about his declining mobility, he learned to enjoy and share

the simple pleasures: sunsets over his lake, enthusiastically announcing his eagle sightings or

that herons were perched on his dock, or just happily discussing a topic you introduced. Even

at the very end, he remained a man for others.

Armand was a good friend to many and his friends have been offering a deeper

understanding of the man he was: the historian, the bird enthusiast, the blues and jazz lover,

the movie buff, the one who would always ask about you first. These lifelong friendships

happily remained a constant throughout his journey. People didn't just like Armand, they loved

him. He made a difference in their lives. What did we learn from Armand? Be kind, be loyal,

put yourself in the other person's shoes, remember that most calamities really aren't, have

some fun, and try not to take yourself too seriously.

Armand leaves behind his wife, Karin, son Armand IV and his wife Elizabeth of the South End

of Boston (and the granddaughter they are expecting on January 1, 2023), and daughter Sofia of

Spofford, New Hampshire. He also leaves his sister, Michele Marion of Southbury, Connecticut,

and a nephew, Jordan Marion of Montreal, Canada.

A Celebration of Life will be held on this coming Sunday, November 20, 2022 from 12 to 3pm

at the Hyannis Yacht Club, 490 Ocean Street, Hyannis MA 02601. In lieu of flowers, please

consider a donation to the Interstitial Lung Disease Collaborative at

https://www.ildcollaborative.org

Or just try paying especially close attention today to what your friend or colleague has to say,

Armand would like that.