Remembering Jack Connors

A year and a half later, Jack was opening Camp Harbor View. Former Mayor Tom Menino had asked him for a plan to keep kids busy and out of trouble during the summer. Jack came up with an idea for a summer camp on Long Island in Boston Harbor. He said, “If you give me the land, I’ll raise $10 million to build the camp.” The idea was to keep kids safe and let them have some fun.

Jack had retired from Hill Holiday and had a small family office where he needed help. So he reached out to me and asked if I’d come work for him in the family office and help get the camp off the ground. He brought me out to where the camp was being built. I asked him what I’d be doing…you know, what the actual job was. He said, “I don’t have the faintest idea. You’re going to figure that out.”  

So the camp opened with two four-week sessions. It’s a beautiful location and they could take leadership training, play sports, and do other fun things. But we soon realized that wasn’t enough. It became, let’s create relationships for these kids and give them opportunities that they wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. And Jack got hooked. He was really hooked on it. He wanted more and he wanted better and he wanted to help more kids and show them more things. He got onto this fundraising rampage and provided the camp with every resource imaginable. And so if we could come up with an idea for something that would add to the curriculum and provide a better chance for these kids to be successful, he was going to raise the money and make it happen. In the last ten years of his life, Camp Harbor View—I think it became second only to his family for him. I think his heart really belonged to Camp Harbor View.

After I went to work for Jack, I saw just how caring he was for everyone he met. He never stood in an elevator at City Hall, or anywhere else, and didn’t say to someone, “I’m Jack Connors. Who are you? Where do you come from? Tell me your story.” Just like he did with me. Because he really wanted to know. You can’t fake that. There are people, you can tell that their warmth is transactional and it’s not real. But with Jack, it was so genuine.

Jack couldn’t help marveling, at nearly every meeting for the past decade, at the grand irony of his service on Academic Affairs. Those of us who spent those Friday mornings with him quickly learned that beyond that disarming laugh line was a fierce intelligence and a limitless belief in what might be possible for Boston College students and faculty. He delighted in regular discussions of the early days of the renewal of the undergraduate core curriculum and the imagining and then implementation of what would become the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society. From our first Committee meetings as the Light the World capital campaign was winding down to this past year’s launch of the new Soaring Higher campaign, Jack was always pushing for us to “Be Bold” and to sharpen our storytelling about what was going on in the University’s classrooms and laboratories.

Before I ever had the pleasure of meeting Jack, I was charmed by his occasional appearances on local Boston talk radio. His accounts of working various jobs while putting himself through BC as a commuter in the early 1960s were a staple of his self-understanding and fueled his insistence on paying forward what he came to understand as his great good fortune of having been a member of the Centennial Class of 1963. And then to have been able to serve across nearly half a century as a member of the Board of Trustees. When Jack spoke—whether at the Committee table or before the full Board—everyone listened. Seven years ago, at an offsite retreat, the gathering ended with a panel of veteran Trustees sharing their wise counsel to a newer generation of University leaders. Jack commanded that room, and with his characteristic blend of poetry and humor reminded all of us of how much BC meant to him and what “Ever to Excel” could mean for the next generation of our students. Our future Academic Affairs meetings will feature, I am certain, numerous appeals to Jack’s memory and example as we recommit to the work that fired his imagination.

And while I was in awe of being there, Jack would always come up with something that was really relevant. He had such great judgment. He was thoughtful and kind beyond belief, but he was also political, smart, and savvy.  He had a strategy for how to handle any issue and he always did what was best for BC. He had such great people skills.  He would often propose ideas by saying, “I was thinking about this, and I wonder if we should consider…” Because of his personality and wisdom, he had the respect of everyone.

Over the years, Jack provided a lot of good advice to Fr. Monan and Fr. Leahy. They, like all the members of the Board, had such tremendous respect for him. He was a thinker and a planner who was also very creative and wise. No one on the Board was as loved, admired, or effective as Jack. He was as BC as BC can be, and his influence on the Board and Boston College was remarkable. He went on to chair the Board twice, always with BC’s best interest at heart. We owe so much to him for helping to lead BC’s transformation during the past forty years. He was a one-of-a-kind leader and an example for us all.

Outside of the Board, Jack was just as kind, sweet, and caring. He had that great Irish way about him, and that twinkle in his eye, and he spent his whole life helping people, never with any expectation of a return. I can still hear his voice saying, “Remember, I am here for you. Call me anytime.” I remember talking to him about my son who, while attending BC, needed some career advice. Jack reached out to him and took him to a baseball game to talk about his future. He was a true, real, and loving friend who had such a wonderful way about him. There was just no better soul. I loved him and miss him terribly, but you know he is up there helping to run heaven now. He is gone, but his love, passion, and heart are still with us.

If you were to visit Jack in his office at the Hancock Tower, overlooking the City of Boston, you might cross paths with any number of the city and state’s most influential leaders in business, government, media, and politics. Jack had become a tremendously successful advertising and marketing executive whose counsel was sought after for matters both big and small, and he always answered the call. But on display throughout his office, and most important to him, were mementos, photographs, and messages from the work he did for needy children and families, which for him was a source of great joy.

Jack believed that we should all try to be like the Good Samaritan. He readily helped those in need, whether or not he knew them. He was a man of deeds for whom the community and the needs of others were priorities. When we asked Jack to lead the revitalization of our Catholic schools, without hesitation he accepted the challenge and founded the Campaign for Catholic Schools, raising more than $130 million and saving Catholic education in several of our urban centers.

Early on, Jack served the Archdiocese of Boston as a member of the Finance Council, helping to chart a course for financial stability. He then went on to establish Boston Catholic Development Services, the agency that leads our fundraising ministry, which makes it possible to serve our parishes, schools, and ministries.

One of the last times I was able to spend time with Jack in a public setting was at the Catholic Charities of Boston Spring Gala this past May. He was his usual joyful self and enlivened the event by serving as emcee. That evening when I offered my remarks, I said, “When you look at how Jesus managed his time, his priority was always taking care of others—taking care of the sick, taking care of the hungry, the works of mercy—and we as his followers are called to do the same. Catholic Charities is the manifestation of that.” And so was Jack. Just this year he was cochairing the Archdiocese’s annual Clergy Trust dinner with Eversource Energy President and CEO Joe Nolan, and he continued to work to support the event even as his health declined.

We pray that Jack’s life, legacy, and his faith will remain an inspiration to all of us.

We offer our prayers of gratitude for the life of Jack Connors, and we continue to pray for his wife, Eileen, his four children and their spouses, and his thirteen grandchildren.

Usually people ask things like, “What’s your vision?” or “What are you going to use the resources for?” So, for Jack to convey that what matters is what drives you as a person was really amazing. That’s just what he cared about. The people whose work he supported were people who were passionate about doing something for the greater good.

I was in contact with him often, to get his advice about the center, and to help him in any way that I could related to the health of women, which he was so committed to. He would ask me, “how can I help you? What can I do for you?” And he would always say, “Hadine, I’m the only son of Mary Horrigan Connors. Thank you for keeping her memory alive.”

He really cared about the health of women. He was willing to stand up in front of people—often the only man in the group—and say “women’s health matters.” It never phased him. We are the most prominent center across the country in our field, and I don’t think that would have been possible without his investments. Yes, the financial resources, of course, but just as important were the network, the visibility, the prioritization—because he advocated for it.

He did it out of a sense of compassion and equity. He was about championing everybody, in particular the people who don’t have the power, who don’t have the voice, who don’t have the economic or political or social influence. He was the champion of not only the underdog, but also of the idea that, basically, we’re all in it together.