BROOKLINE — Jack Connors Jr. was known throughout Boston and beyond as much for his generosity as he was for his business savvy.
Besides the many boards on which he served, including Partners Healthcare System, the Boston College Board of Trustees and the Board of Fellows at Harvard Medical School, Connors was a driving force behind such initiatives as The Campaign for Catholic Schools and the Edward M. Kennedy Institute.
A founding partner of Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos, Inc., a marketing communications company, the legendary philanthropist and advertising executive died Tuesday, July 23, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 82.
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“Massachusetts lost a champion today and I have lost a friend,” said Gov. Maura Healy, in a prepared statement. “Jack Connors was a leader in business, but his most lasting legacy will come from his generosity and philanthropy.”
Cardinal Sean O’Malley commended Connors’ leadership in the world of commerce, his vision for what a good society should be, and his seemingly endless generosity to others.
Cardinal O’Malley praises Connors’ impact on Catholic education
“Jack brought his widely esteemed business acumen to his life as a citizen and a Catholic,” O’Malley said in a statement. “Jack’s faith and Jesuit education grounded his conviction to honor the human dignity of every person of every faith and every ethnic or racial community which make up the mosaic of the United States.”
As founder and continuing inspiration for the Campaign for Catholic Schools, Connors brought people together in the service of providing quality education for children of all faiths and from all social strata of our civil society, O’Malley said.
“I feel particularly privileged to be able to acknowledge his impact on Catholic education in an Archdiocese where schools have been the pathway for children of citizens and immigrants to become successful members of our society,” the cardinal said.
In a statement, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., spoke of Connors’ dedication to looking out for families in Boston who were too often left behind.
“He was always focused on what more we can do to help others,” Warren said. “To honor his mother, he invested into women’s health at a time when women’s health was long ignored. His legacy will echo for generations.”
U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., also mentioned Connors’ desire for a bright future for Massachusetts and its families that would bring “more opportunity.”
“Through his business achievements and philanthropic projects, through his vision, influence, and deep humanity, Jack Connors defined the economic, educational, political and health care landscape of Boston and the entire Commonwealth,” Markey said in a statement. “Jack Connors knew what it meant to take what little you had or as much as you earned and dedicate it to making a better community and a better world. And that is exactly what he did.”
Connors, who grew up in Roslindale, proudly attended Boston College and was living in Brookline at the time of his death. He leaves his wife, Eileen, four children and 13 grandchildren.
Visiting hours will be held from 3-8 p.m. on Monday, July 29, at St. Ignatius Church, 28 Commonwealth Ave., Chestnut Hill. A funeral Mass takes place at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 30, at St. Ignatius with a reception immediately following.
Burial will be private.