By: Frankie Sullivan and Luke Greif
“If you can’t tell your mother about something, don’t do it.” These are the words that Wakefield’s John Smolinsky has always lived by. Smolinsky demonstrates a life of hard work and honesty and is truly a family man at heart. Growing up in Roxbury, Smolinsky was the oldest of eight siblings. He worked his first job at a corner store when he was only twelve years old, assembling newspaper inserts and stocking shelves. Smolinsky earned $8 a week, but all his money went to his parents to help give back to his family.
Smolinsky studied Latin and Spanish at the Boston Latin School, which had a strict dress code of suits and ties daily. During his time at the school, his family moved to Tewksbury, which was a big shift for him and a cultural shift for him and his family. Because of the advanced curriculum at the Boston Latin School, Smolinsky was able to take all junior and senior-level classes as a sophomore. Since he was a sophomore, he was bullied by many of his peers due to his small stature, but Smolinsky never let them get under his skin and still chose to pursue football, wrestling, and track and field in high school. Despite starting later than others, he developed a true talent for wrestling very quickly. Smolinsky graduated from Tewksbury High School in 1972 and received a congressional nomination from Senator Edward Brooke to the U.S. Air Force Academy, but decided to begin college at Lowell Tech, now named UMass Lowell.
During his time at Lowell Tech, Smolinsky worked incredibly hard as a freshman, balancing school, work, and wrestling. During his freshman year at Lowell Tech, he won the New England Wrestling Championship, proving that his hard work had paid off. Smolinsky continued to work late nights in college to help support himself in school, which, unfortunately, caused his grades to suffer. After much consideration, Smolinsky decided to drop out of school and join the Air Force.
His first job in the Air Force was training to become a linguist for the Vietnam War. During his training, the Vietnam War had ended, making his studies ineffective. He was offered to be trained in Russian, Mandarin, or Arabic, but decided to decline the offer. Smolinsky was honorably discharged from the Air Force because of the end of the war. Briefly after he was discharged, he began working at a lettuce company in California. Then, soon after he decided to resume his studies at Lowell Tech and play football until graduating in 1977.
After finishing college, Smolinsky worked at State Street Bank as an automated customer service representative. At first was apprehensive about working in finance, but with some encouragement from his family, he decided to do it. He was always a hard worker and always volunteered for extra tasks, which helped him stand out and get recruited to the Raytheon Credit Union. His boss at Raytheon helped send him to the MIT Sloan School of Business, although he was unqualified. Smolinsky became a class representative at MIT, which upset his boss and caused him to also clash with management. Smolinsky ended up leaving Raytheon and became the CEO of Saugus Credit Union at age 30. Smolinsky worked hard in his position as CEO for 35 years until his retirement.
After 35 years of leading the Saugus Credit Union, John was encouraged by his wife to stay active within the community. Soon after retirement, John became Executive Director of the Wakefield Area Chamber of Commerce, along with his wife Ann, who is on the Board of Directors of the Wakefield Area Chamber of Commerce. Together, they organize business networking events and training sessions. The Chamber advocates policies and programs that promote a positive business environment. John takes pride in helping coordinate community events in Wakefield, like the Santa Parade and Town Day. He is also very involved in educational programs on business, safety, and health topics.
Smolinsky has always spent his life trying to help others. From his first job earning $8.00 per week and giving it back to his family, to now working at the Chamber of Commerce helping support the town of Wakefield, Smolinsky has truly dedicated his life to others. He believes in hard work and dedication and “always do[ing] a little extra to help separate yourself from others,” which can help you stand out from the crowd, opening new doors for people. Smolinsky truly is a family man at heart and believes that family and friends matter more to him than anything else could.
