John J. Valeri, at 54; was UPS international executive
Growing up in Arlington, John J. Valeri was known as a charming youth.
“He was friendly to everybody; that was his greatest asset,’’ said his brother, Robert of Arlington.
“Anyone who knew him always liked him. He was definitely one of the more popular guys at school.’’
That personality propelled him through the ranks at
“He went past being a good [human resources] person,’’ said UPS chief operating officer David Abney.
“I think he was the best people-problem solver that I’ve worked with in 35 years.’’
Mr. Valeri, who helped lead the package shipping company’s global expansion as an executive in Asia and Europe, died July 20 of cancer at a hospice facility in Atlanta.
He was 54.
The middle brother of three boys, Mr. Valeri was a stellar athlete, relatives said.
He played varsity basketball, baseball, and football at Matignon High School in Cambridge, excelling in all three before graduating in 1973. As an upperclassman, he was captain of the football and baseball teams, starting at quarterback and shortstop.
Mr. Valeri’s athletic accolades grew in college. He was recruited to play baseball at Massachusetts Bay Community College in Wellesley.
In 1975, he hit .604, higher than any other junior college player in the nation. That average, six hits in every 10 at-bats, earned him All-American honors and the Adirondack Big Stick award, given annually to the country’s best junior college hitter.
Moe Maloney, who later coached Boston College baseball for 10 years, was Mr. Valeri’s college coach.
“That year was mind-boggling,’’ said Maloney, who was also one of Mr. Valeri’s high school basketball coaches.
“I coached baseball for 32 years, and I never saw anyone have a year like that, ever.’’
Mr. Valeri’s batting title created a difficult decision: finish college or play professionally.
Ultimately, he chose the University of New Haven’s athletic scholarship over the St. Louis Cardinals’s 10-day contract offer. It would be his only Major League opportunity.
Two years later, he earned his bachelor’s in business administration from New Haven and immediately began working at his father’s office supply company in Leominster.
“After three or four months, he realized he didn’t like it,’’ said his brother, Robert, who now runs a similar company.
“He left the family business and pursued other jobs. One day, he got a UPS delivery at the house and asked the driver if they were hiring.’’
In 1978, Mr. Valeri began answering phones for UPS in an entry-level position. Within 18 months, he was driving a delivery truck.
Tracy Roberts, Mr. Valeri’s UPS co-worker and friend, said delivering packages was part of his training.
“That’s typical for a lot of our management,’’ she said.
“Part of the plan is you know what happens because you’ve done it.’’
By 1980, he was a UPS station supervisor and then progressed through several managerial positions in the human resources department over the next eight years.
In 1988, with plans to expand globally, the company acquired a location in Hong Kong. About a year later, Mr. Valeri was assigned to the post as the human resources director for North Asia.
Inheriting a virtually empty department, Mr. Valeri hired nearly all of the region’s human resources staff. He personally trained most of the department’s leadership there today, Abney said.
After 18 months, he was transferred to Singapore, assuming the same position for South Asia.
After another 18 months, Mr. Valeri was headed back to the States, assigned to lead the human resources department for the West Los Angeles district. There, he met his wife.
“Our companies had gone into a national agreement, and he was my contact,’’ said the former Kim Gallagher of Atlanta, his wife of 14 years.
“We met through meetings, and once it was clear we had an interest in each other, I left my firm.’’
In 1995, after the couple had dated for 18 months, UPS promoted Mr. Valeri to become the human resources vice president in Asia, which meant he would again be stationed in Singapore.
The couple wed quickly.
“We sold all of our worldly possessions, packed up, and headed off for Asia,’’ his wife said.
A year later, the two held a more formal wedding off Pacific Coast cliffs in Malibu.
Their first daughter was born in Singapore in 1997; a son and another daughter were later born in Brussels, where Mr. Valeri took the human resources vice president post for Europe in 1998.
Mrs. Valeri said she embraced the chance to raise a family abroad, including teaching her children English and French.
“I knew we’d be on an adventure for a long time,’’ she said. “We were of the mindset that we’d ride the adventure for as long as we could.’’
In 2001, Mr. Valeri completed an advanced management program at INSEAD, an international business school in France, Roberts said.
Several months later, Mr. Valeri was transferred for the final time, to the UPS headquarters in Atlanta.
He became the vice president of international human resources, one of the top 100 positions in the company, Roberts said.
“He oversaw all of the human resources and labor-related issues for the 71,000 employees outside of the US,’’ Roberts said.
Mr. Valeri held that position for eight years, a profitable period for the company.
“That was just an explosive growth period for our international operations,’’ said Abney, who was the UPS International president at the time.
“He was an X-factor.’’
While in Atlanta, he also represented the company on two boards, one on international trends in human resources and another on global health threats.
Doctors diagnosed Mr. Valeri with oral cancer in 2006. After several surgeries and periods of treatment and remission, the cancer was discovered in his lungs in 2008.
He continued to work throughout the ordeal.
“He was really a spectacular guy,’’ Roberts said.
“He’d run, come into the office, and then go for a 3 p.m. radiation treatment. Then he’d show up the next day.’’
“He was tremendous, an unbelievable father and a tremendous husband,’’ his wife said.
“He loved life.’’
In addition to his wife and brother, Mr. Valeri leaves his three children, Lauren, 12, Derrin, 10, and Corinn, 8; and another brother, Ronald of Stoneham.
A memorial Mass will be said today at 9 a.m. in St. Eulalia Church in Winchester.