Former director of telecommunications John H. (Jack) Rafferty died April 7 from pulmonary fibrosis complicated by congestive heart failure.He was initially employed by Prairie View A&M University to assist in development of the 1966 – 67 Physical Plant Budget. He was then named surplus property manager where he successfully disposed of a large inventory of salable surplus property by auction to the general public.
In 1987, the President’s Office discovered serious flaws in the telephone system operation and maintenance on campus. He was hired as telecommunications manager and was given one year to resolve issues. His findings revealed that telephone companies were over-billing Prairie View A&M University for telephone service and equipment, amounting to more than $225,000 annually. Also, the university was paying over $25,000 annually in missing or stolen equipment on a monthly basis, which should have been bought out, and there were numerous billing errors on the part of telephone service providers.
Two years later, Rafferty set up a campus billing system whereby all units on campus paid a monthly bill for services. Concurrently, he initiated a campus-wide buy-out of all leased equipment to further reduce costs.
Despite the phenomenal growth of Prairie View A&M, the telephone budgets never exceeded an annual cost of around one million dollars to the University. This was a great credit to his overall experience, planning, and financial expertise. Rafferty retired after 17 years on Jan. 31, 2003.
He is survived by his wife, Lois Robertson Rafferty, four children, eight grandchildren, five great grandchildren, three step children and three step grandchildren, two brothers, two sisters, numerous nieces, nephews, other family members and a host of friends.
Funeral arrangements are currently pending.