August T. "Gus" Jaccaci Jr.

August "Gus" T. Jaccaci Jr.

Auburn

August "Gus" Thayer Jaccaci Jr. passed away peacefully at Schooner Estates residential care facility in Auburn, Maine on Sunday, November 16th.

During his lifetime, Gus was loved and appreciated for his creativity, intellect, humor, graciousness, teaching ability, commitment to his ideals, and being an inspirational champion for those close to him, and for all of life.

Gus was born on March 9th, 1937, in New York, NY, the son of Thayer and Helen (Jenkins) Jaccaci. Gus grew up in Madison, CT with his family and beloved sister Gail.

Gus's lifelong love of learning took root at St. Paul's School where he was awarded the school medal at graduation for his scholarship, athletics and community membership. Gus started his college studies at the University of Colorado where he pursued his love of ski racing, art and academics. Gus transferred following his sophomore year to complete his undergraduate studies at Harvard College. Gus went on to earn a master's degree in education from Harvard. While studying for his master's degree, Gus worked as an assistant to the Admissions Committee at Harvard and coached the Harvard ski team. Gus continued his education, earning a Master of Fine Arts in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design.

Gus was a long-time Arts and English educator. He started his teaching career at Rutland High School, in Rutland, Vermont, and then taught at Phillips Andover Academy, Boston College, Lawrence Academy, and Burke Mountain Academy. Gus was deeply appreciated by students for fostering their independent thinking, creativity and ability to stretch their imaginations for what was possible, and for what they could become. Gus shared that "you cannot teach art; you can only encourage people to make their meaning. When a student shared their art with me, I had only two responses, and they were either 'Yes!' or 'tell me more.'"

Following his teaching career, Gus extended his work into the areas of general systems thinking, futurism, social architecture and strategic planning where he consulted with organizations in diverse industries. Gus was the creator of the Metamatrix model that maps how organizations, civilization and humanity evolve through stages of evolutionary growth. Gus was also a longtime faculty member at the Creative Problem-Solving Institute where he taught for over 20 years and was awarded a Distinguished Leader Award in 2005.

Gus' self-defined "Vermonumental Idealism," reflected his commitment to progressive politics that let him to run for public office. Gus ran for Governor of Vermont twice, creating a party that he called "People of Vermont," as he worked to usher in a new "citizen's branch" of the government. Gus also ran as a "Planetician," a person that he defined as a protector of all life, first and foremost, saying "we need leaders, certainly representing

Vermont, that have the whole well-being of the planet as a working concern." Gus also blended his vision and creativity to run for Congress and then President of the United States taking on the character and "enacting" Thomas Jefferson. He shared messages that he, as Thomas Jefferson, had "returned from the future" as he outlined how "we have succeeded as a nation ushering in values of love, citizen empowerment, and care for all life on the planet."

Gus was seen as a visionary sharing his ideas and ideals through several published books including Amocracy in America: Imaginary Letters from Beloved Visionaries; Awake America: A Declaration of Interdependence; General Periodicity: Natures Creative Dynamics, and CEO: Chief Evolutionary Officer - Leaders Mapping the Future, that was co-authored with Susan Gault.

Gus had three loving marriages. Gus married Robin Middleton Jaccaci, in 1963 and together they had two sons, Tony and Alex. Gus married Mary Alima Baker in 1986. And Gus married Joanne Hobbs Spear Jaccaci in 1999 to whom he was happily married until Joanne's passing in 2018. Joanne was a devoted wife and collaborator with Gus, co-running the nonprofit Unity Scholars to spread their message of love, unity and peace.

Gus is survived by and will be missed by his sons, Tony and Alex and their wives Lucia and Maureen, his grandchildren Nick, Sam, Ben, Daniel and Emma, his nieces Penny and Sue and their children Roman and Claire, and Joanne's daughters, Lynne and Vicki and grandchildren Ross, Angela, Gina, Rocco, Conner and Mackenna.

Gus was inspired by St. Francis of Assisi from whom he received a message while meditating in Assisi, Italy: "… if you build anything, build it on a web of love and it will be both ephemeral and timeless, momentary and enduring." Gus held this guidance close to his heart and his life's purpose. In his later years, Gus shared, "The universe is a love story." We love and appreciate the story that Gus shared with each of us, and all of life.

The family will hold a Celebration of Gus' Life in 2026, with a date yet to be announced. Please let the family know if you would like to join them.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider a donation to the American Indian College Fund, an organization that advances a priority that Gus supported for many years.

Cote Funeral Home in Saco, Maine is supporting the family.

To view Gus' memorial page or leave an online condolence please visit www.cotefuneralhome.com