Former Resident Bequeaths $50 Million To Northfield Mount Hermon

 HARWICH – John Mitchell spent part of his childhood growing up in an unheated house in town after his family fell on hard times. That upbringing did not deter him. 

He was fortunate to earn a scholarship to Mount Hermon School for Boys, where he graduated as valedictorian. Mitchell passed away in 2022 at 83. Northfield Mount Hermon, located in Gill in north-central Massachusetts, has just announced that Mitchell bequeathed a $50 million endowment for need-based scholarships and to expand support for faculty and key objectives of the school’s $275 million fundraising campaign.

 It is the largest-ever gift received by the school and one of the single largest donations ever to an independent school, according to a press release from the school.

 “It was an act of generosity from an exceptionally accomplished alumnus who was modest in his profile but profound in his gratitude for the education he received,” Head of School Brian Hargrove and Northfield Mount Hermon Board Chair Monie Hardwick said in the press release.

 According to Mitchell’s obituary, he was born in Orange, N.J., but when his father fell on hard times, the family relocated to an unheated house in Harwich.

 “John always loved the Cape and the Harwich area,” said Benita Pierce, a longtime friend. “As a boy he kept a row boat in the Herring River.” 

Pierce grew up in West Yarmouth and attended the Northfield School for Girls while Mitchell was attending Mount Hermon. Over time they became good friends and after the merger of the two schools in 1971, they served on the board of directors together. She said that later in life, Mitchell would come to the Cape to visit her twice a year and they would travel to Harwich to see the changes to his childhood home on Depot Street. 

Mitchell’s family, according to Pierce, remained in Harwich for a number of years. Pierce said his mother, Elizabeth Mitchell, became a Sunday school teacher at the Pilgrim Congregational Church in Harwich Port. 

Mitchell arrived in Harwich while in elementary school and left for Mount Hermon in the ninth grade, Pierce said. 

“The local school was small and poorly resourced,” Mitchell’s obituary explained.

 Mitchell arrived at the Mount Hermon School for Boys in 1952 as a scholarship student, and he was recognized early as academically gifted. He graduated f in 1956 and went on to earn degrees from Yale and New York University. He found success working for Pfizer, Inc. The organization that Mitchell led, Pfizer Global Manufacturing, was formed in 1999 and was responsible for worldwide manufacturing operations for all of Pfizer's human healthcare, consumer healthcare, and animal health products. Mitchell led the operation of 81 plants and 36 logistics centers in 37 countries with approximately 35,000 employees.

Mitchell later served on the Northfield Mount Herman board of trustees, where he brought a focus on finances and campus planning. He made numerous gifts to top off the budget for faculty housing projects, athletics facilities, the early childhood center and related campus improvements, according to the press release.

“John credited his time at NMH as a turning point in his life and held tight to the habits and values nurtured at NMH: hard work, critical thinking, lifelong learning, and service,” the press release reads.

Today, about 40 percent of NMH students receive scholarship aid, which totals more than $13 million. Hargrove and Hardwick celebrated Mitchell’s gift as “a transformational moment in the trajectory of NMH, and an opportunity to redouble our efforts toward opening the NMH experience to every qualified student who seeks it, regardless of circumstances.