Alumni Spotlight
Harry Prefontaine ’59: BPD’s Captain Detective Who Led the Way for So Many
“I really had no self-confidence when I entered English High,” says Harold Prefontaine, English High School Class of 1959. “Kids teased me because of my weight and tics related to Tourette Syndrome.”
Harry started high school at Boston Latin but a football injury sidelined him. After he fell too far behind to catch up, he transferred to cross-street rival English High where he discovered three things he liked about school: Science, Math, and Military Drill, which at the time was led by Captain Fisher. To this day, Harry brags about winning the prestigious all school top award, the ‘Manual of Arms.’
The English High 1959 Military Drill Team, lead by Captain Fisher, was winner of Boston’s Annual Schoolboy Parade
Throughout his English High years, he worked 14 hours every Saturday at a Boston produce market for one dollar an hour. After graduation, he worked in a factory for a year until his dad, a lifelong Boston police officer, told Harry the Marines would teach him discipline and lessons for life. “Dad was right. During the first week at the Marine’s Parris Island Recruiting Base,” Harry smiles, “the Drill Sargent scared the Tourette Syndrome right out of me.”
After four years of military service, Harry joined the Boston Police Department and, over the years, came in #1 in the Sergeant exam and #1 in the Lieutenant exam. After passing the Captain exam – and having majored in Physics and minored in Calculus at Boston State College (now UMass Boston) with a 3.88 grade average, he was promoted to Captain Detective and oversaw the BPD Crime Lab from 1966 to 1997. He recalls that English High teachers taught him how to study and that, in turn, helped him earn his B. A. and to excel in promotional exams.
Retired Boston Police Officer Robert Anthony, historian and author of Boston Police: Behind the Badge, describes Harry: “He was an outstanding officer and instructor at the Police Academy. His commitment to our department and the training of recruits went above the norm. His teachings to hundreds of new recruits gave us all the tools needed to do the job. He came up the ranks from Patrolman to the highest civil service rank in the department, Captain Detective. Only a few have held this rank. Captain Prefontaine is one of the reasons we become police officers. He has led the way for so many.”
Harry offers advice for today’s EHS students:
- Learn how to study – It will help throughout life.
- Do a lot more in high school than just ‘getting by.’
- Read and study.
- For a life-changing learning experience, join the Marines.
Harold Prefontaine in the 1959 English High Yearbook
Harry and his wife retired to Florida two decades ago and recently marked their 61st anniversary. They have three adult children, 10 grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
