magazine

Alumni Profile: Victor Megaro ‘81
DEVELOPMENT
Victor Megaro is a 1981 graduate of De La Salle. For 26 years, Megaro has been a member
of the Chicago Fire Department, serving the last 21 years as a fire marshal. Megaro is also a
training coordinator in the Office of Fire Investigation for the Chicago Fire Department.
In his professional career, Megaro has received several awards, culminating in 2011 when he
earned the “International Fire Investigator of the Year” and the “Harry P. Schaeffer Fire
Investigator of the Year” Awards.
Here is a question-and-answer session with Megaro – whose stepson, Anthony Slawson ’14,
was chosen Theatre 100’s Thespian of the Year in his senior year – as to how his De La Salle
education prepared him for a life of dedicated and committed service to the people of Chicago.
Q: How did De La Salle influence your life?
A: I attended Robert Healy, a very good public grade school. All of my classmates were almost exactly like me. They were poor, white,
Irish, Italian or Mexican. We all pretty much lived within three blocks from our school.
When I started at De La Salle, it was amazing to me how many different types of people were out there. It was an entire new thing for
me. Before high school, I thought everyone worked as a carpenter, plumber or another trade. Computers were just coming out.
When I started high school, I made a lot of new friends of different races. Some of the friends who helped me with computer
programming were of a different race. To this day, a lot of my close co-workers are of different race than I.
Q: How did De La Salle prepare you for life after high school?
A: In my line of work as a fire investigator, compassion is the key when interviewing victims of fire. Be it caused by intentional or
accidental factors, it is a very sad and traumatic time for the fire victims.
Compassion does more than get more from the interview. I let the victims know that there is hope after devastation.
Q: What are some of the most important things you learned at De La Salle?
A: I learned to have more compassion while attending De La Salle. The Christian Brothers’ way of teaching leads by example. Nobody
ever tried to force any student how to live their life. The school just quietly accomplishes that by leading, not pushing.
Q: Who were some of the teachers who influenced you and why?
A: Brother Edward and Brother Joseph. Brother Edward was my freshman homeroom teacher and he taught more than
schoolwork. He liked to talk about “work” and what it means to be a good worker at whatever you choose to do in the future.
He also had the hands of a boxer and I was a little too intimidated to ever think about disagreeing with him. Brother Joseph was
probably the teacher who taught me compassion. He never had a negative thing to say about anyone.
Q: What are some of your fondest memories of De La Salle?
A: Junior and senior retreats were great memories for me. Intramurals was fun as was woodshop with Mr. (George) Jaros.
During the senior retreat, one of the female chaperones dedicated a twig into the fire for her friend who was paralyzed in a motorcycle
accident. Her friend was a very good friend of mine who I had not seen since his accident two years prior.
I got to reconnect with him after that. That made me think people are put into your life for a reason.
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