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From the Asbury Park Press, August 1, 2007:<\/p>\n
Frank “Terry” Magovern, of Rumson, passed away Monday, July 30. Terry grew up in Belmar, where he attended St. Rose High School. He was a four-year Navy veteran, completing special warfare training and specializing in underwater demolition work (UDT) before being assigned to work with the Mercury Space Program and the original seven Mercury astronauts. For the past 23 years, Terry was the personal assistant to Bruce Springsteen and was a cherished friend to people worldwide whose names are too numerous to list. Terry was active in many aspects of the local community through business and charitable work, such as Holiday Express and Light of Day supporting Parkinson’s Disease and research. In 2006 he founded the Joan Dancy and Pals ALS Support Group at Riverview Medical Center, in memory of his former fianc\u00e9e, who lost her battle to the disease. In addition, Terry was involved with the Apple Jack Canine Kennels in Maryland, a dog-training facility specializing in bomb-sniffing dogs for the military. He later developed a program that trains dogs that work in women’s shelters for victims of domestic violence as companion dogs for protection.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Obituaries often try to capture the life and lasting impact of the dearly departed, summarizing a lifetime in a paragraph or two. But sometimes it’s about the depth of one’s life, not the breadth of it.<\/p>\n Bruce and Terry met in 1972. Bruce was playing at the Captain’s Garter bar in Neptune, a stone’s throw from Asbury Park; Terry was managing the bar. Bruce had just delivered one of his trademarked-even-then legendary performances; Terry focused on the cash registers, empty because patrons were too rapt to drink. Bruce likes to retell how Terry fired him on Day One of their relationship, but the truth is that both men impressed each other with their unique talents and worldviews, and they grew gradually but steadily close, both professionally and personally.<\/p>\n Over the years, Terry served as road manager, research assistant, personal assistant… he even supported Clarence and managed Big Man’s West for a time. Terry “got” Bruce–instinctively knowing what his friend and boss needed, staying in the background unless otherwise necessary, comfortable with silence but always present, ever of service to those around him.<\/p>\n Terry passed away in his sleep on July 30, 2007. His memorial service was held three days later, at the United Methodist Church in Red Bank, NJ. Bruce eulogized him in his typical raconteur style, but it was through song that Bruce truly and fittingly captured and immortalized his friend.<\/p>\n Written and performed less than three days since Magovern’s untimely death, this is–simply–“Terry’s Song.”<\/p>\n