LYNN — John C. Mihos was an ear-to-the-ground type of person, say his colleagues, and it’s that attention to detail and his vast, institutional knowledge of the city that made him so effective in a year where the school department had to pivot often due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mihos, who had been the counsel to the Lynn School Committee since 1985, died unexpectedly Friday at age 74. His death left his friends and colleagues stunned.
“I think I spoke to John every day last week,” said Superintendent Dr. Patrick J. Tutwiler. “We had a lot going on. This is terrible. Terrible. We’re stunned.
“I think we spoke pretty much every day since last March,” Tutwiler said.
“He had a vast knowledge of Lynn schools, going back decades,” said former superintendent Nicholas Kostan. “I used to joke with him that he was the greatest ‘survivor’ in Lynn. He survived superintendents, many school committees, and he was involved with everything that went on.
“Remember,” Kostan said, “he was responsible for negotiating contracts, and at one time, that included the custodians. We depended on him for so much legal advice.”
“And,” said Tutwiler, “he was very thorough. That’s where he was of supreme value. He’d ask me questions about things, and I’d say ‘enough!’ But, lo and behold, he’d find that needle in a haystack that would save us from making a big mistake. I haven’t just lost a friend. I’ve lost a valuable partner.”
Mayor Thomas M. McGee, who chairs the School Committee, said that Mihos was especially indispensable this past year, when COVID forced school departments to adjust on the fly to state protocols.
“He brought a wealth of experience, and with the challenges the school department faced, John was invaluable. He navigated all the different challenges we faced, working with unions, negotiating teams, being in the community to work through something that none of us had seen in our lifetimes.
“John was such a strong resource partner,” McGee said. “He was able to bring his experience, knowledge and common sense to navigate through this.”
Tutwiler’s immediate predecessor, Dr. Catherine C. Latham, said, “he was a necessary part of my life for 10 years. He was so important to me. I think we spoke every day too, and I think we had a great mutual respect for one another.
“He had so much experience,” she said. “He knew the history of the school department so well that he was a great resource to me. We may have disagreed with one another at times, but I appreciated his opinion and he appreciated mine.”
Colleagues on the School Committee were always impressed with the way Mihos knew his business, but also added a personal touch as well.
“This one hits hard,” said committee member Michael Satterwhite, who was chair of the negotiating subcommittee. “On a weekly basis we had to adjust and change something on account of COVID. We went to him for guidance. He was accessible, available, and he called me on a daily basis, just to check in. It made me feel good to know there was someone who had my back.”
Satterwhite said previous dealings with Mihos were also pleasant.
“I’d known John from middle school, because I went to Pickering with his daughter (Christina). Five years ago (when Satterwhite was in real estate), I was showing a house, and he went with his son, C.J., to look at it.
“Now, he had a certain suaveness to him,” Satterwhite said. “You knew he meant business, and his son listened to every word John had to say. It was nice for me to see how he was there for his son, and his daughter.”
“He was a big (Boston University) guy,” said Charles Gaeta, executive director of the Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development. “And he was so proud that both C.J. and Christina went to BU and got their degrees there.”
School Committee member Jared Nicholson said that while Mihos was very professional in their dealings in the beginning, they eventually became friends.
“In fact,” said Nicholson, “I teach law at Northeastern, and I bring up John’s name a lot as the type of lawyer who has that practical wisdom you can’t get in a textbook.
“We started with a professional relationship, but he was so invested in what he did in this community that you couldn’t help but become friends. He reached out to me when my son, Henry, was born. He’d always call and say his name and number, but for this one, he said ‘John Mihos. I’m at home. And congratulations.’ I always liked that,” Nicholson said.
Gaeta said Mihos enjoyed a lively debate, and on just about anything
“He was a true character,” Gaeta said. “He had strong opinions on everything from politics to sports. And he loved to argue about it.
“A lot of people will miss his company,” Gaeta said.
“I worked with him for 21 years, and I got close to him,” said former School Committee Secretary Tom Iarrobino. “John always had his feet on the ground. He had one of the best political understandings of the Lynn landscape of anyone I know. He knew where everybody was. What the political leanings were. And he had maybe the most institutional knowledge of anyone in the city.
“He is going to be a very hard guy to replace,” Iarrobino said. “In any kind of legal action that came before the School Department, he handled it, whether it was bargaining, education reform, school assignment, he did it. To find one person who’s going to be able to do all that will be very difficult.”
