Necrology

Jason “Tag” J. Tagliaferri '96

Oct. 23, 1974-May. 23, 2023

Jason J. Tagliaferri '96, known to his friends as “Tag,” died on May 23, 2023, in Rome, N.Y., the city in which he was born on Oct. 23, 1974. He came to Hamilton from the Rome Free Academy (RFA). On the Hill, he majored in geology and comparative literature, and was a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity. A two-sport athlete at RFA, he played football for Hamilton during his first year and baseball all four years, primarily as first baseman. He was one of the team’s leading hitters and homered during a college tournament at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Following graduation, Tag worked as an environmental specialist for the Galson Corp., a company focused on industrial hygiene and indoor air quality testing, to assure companies’ compliance with air quality standards established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. From there he moved on to ENSR, an environmental remediation company.

In 2000, Tag became engaged to Michelle L. Cosentino ’98. They were married on Oct. 6, 2001, in the Hamilton Chapel. They had three children. Their marriage ended in 2018.

Around this time, Tag tired of working on environmental issues and changed course. He became a public school teacher in earth science, a logical subject for a geology major. While still employed by ENSR, he started working as a substitute teacher in the Rome City School District. In 2002, he accepted a full-time position in the Westmoreland (N.Y.) Central School District, near Clinton. Concurrently, he pursued a master’s degree in education at Utica College (now Utica University), which he completed in 2005.

In 2008, a local television station honored him as “Educator of the Week.” For a number of years, Tag coached both junior varsity and varsity baseball at Westmoreland, giving it up only when his own children were old enough to be coached by him in various youth sports.

Tag was a devoted Hamilton alumnus. For a number of summers, he hosted weekend parties for his Hamilton classmates and other friends. The celebrations came to be called “Tagfests,” which, according to one attendee, were occasions that enabled those present once again “to act like the college idiots we once were.” 

Upon hearing of his death, his friend Jason Lizio ’96 wrote: “If there is anything people need to know about him, it’s that he was all about friends and family. … Tag will be missed by anyone who knew him.”

Jason J. Tagliaferri is survived by his former wife, two daughters, and a son.

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