Jack Connors, Boston power broker and philanthropist, dies at 82

Jack Connors, a businessman and philanthropist long considered one of Boston's chief power brokers, has died.

His death Tuesday was due to pancreatic cancer, according to one of the organizations he founded, Camp Harbor View. He was 82.

Connors was a founding partner of the advertising giant Hill, Holliday and turned his business success into a far-reaching charitable footprint, giving away more than $100 million of his own money and raising much more from others.

Connors served on the boards of Partners Healthcare — now Mass General Brigham — and Boston College. He also acted as a political advisor to many local politicians, from mayors Tom Menino to Michelle Wu. And as a Democrat, he chaired former Republican Gov. Charlie Baker's 2018 reelection campaign.

"I don't think Jack really cared much about the letter at the end of somebody's name," Baker said. "What he cared about was whether or not you were committed to a cause or to a greater good that he was working on."

Baker knew Connors long before running for governor, going back to age 18, when he volunteered for the Big Brothers Association, a nonprofit where Connors was a donor and supporter. Baker's wife, Lauren, later worked for Connors at Hill, Holliday. And Connors became a trusted advisor as Baker went into health care and then ran for governor.

"There's probably not a mayor or a governor or college president or city councilor who didn't know him, talked to him, learned from him," Baker said. "There will never be another Jack Connors."

For many years, Connors was the go-to guy in Boston in business and politics. He parlayed his relationships with the city's top executives and elected officials into action on many fronts. He used his powers of persuasion to influence elections, business deals and the creation of Boston health care giants. He chaired the Mass General Hospital parent company for 16 years.

Former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said his relationship with Connors began when he became mayor and quickly turned into a friendship that he cherished.

"We'll never know the amount of people he actually touched. He did a lot of his work quietly," Walsh said. "He was obviously big in the business community, with hospital systems, with advertising. Jack will be known for all of that, but also just being known as a great, humble person."

Connors had most recently been supporting Joe Biden's reelection campaign. Over the years he had a hand in mentoring executives and deal-making to shore up major Boston institutions. Not every effort was a win: He tried to buy the Boston Globe when the New York Times was selling it (John Henry came out on top); Connors reportedly tried to get the former FleetBoston bank to merge with insurer John Hancock (didn't happen); and he helped Ralph de la Torre on the road to running Steward Health Care, a move he later told WBUR he regretted as the health care company careened into bankrutpcy.

As the Steward debacle unfolded, Connors contacted state officials to offer help.

"It won’t surprise anyone who knew him that Jack had reached out to help us with the challenges created by Steward over the past few months," Massachusetts Secretary of Health and Human Services Kate Walsh said in a statement. "I marveled at his grasp of the complexities, his ability to distill the facts into actionable next steps, and the army of experts he mobilized."

Walsh said he did this "with his characteristic grace, wicked sense of humor, and commitment to patients in the hospitals, and the people who cared for them."

Connors will be most remembered for his victories. Mayor Wu in a statement said Connors' vision and commitment will have a lasting impact on Boston.

"His generosity of spirit and true love for all people is evident in the countless interactions with those who could do nothing for him but for whom he moved mountains to provide access to opportunity," she said. "There simply is no one like him, and I am so grateful for the wisdom he shared with me over the years. I will carry it with me always.”

Senator Elizabeth Warren praised Connors for using his financial success to press for changes that would affect generations to come.

"He was born in very modest circumstances, made a fortune, but then spent a huge amount of his time figuring out how to give that money away and to do it in a way that would have a lasting impact on people who needed assistance on making real changes," Warren said Tuesday on WBUR's Radio Boston.

Connors was the founder of the Campaign for Catholic Schools, which has raised $130 million in the 15 years since its founding to strengthen Catholic education in and around Boston. Connors, along with Cardinal Seán O'Malley, was honored by the Massachusetts Catholic Conference last year for vision and leadership.

Bob Atchinson, who succeeded Connors as co-chair of the Campaign's board, recalled the smaller ways in which Connors made a difference. At a lunch event, an eighth-grade girl sang and spoke; Connors was impressed and went to meet her afterward. He asked where she was going to school the following year, and she told him Fontbonne Academy in Milton.

"And he said, 'Great, we're going to pay for it.' And just spontaneously decided to take care of her tuition," Atchinson remembered. "He did things like that all the time. We'll all know about what he did for Partners Healthcare and BC, but it was the little things .... He just had a way of making everybody feel special and looking out for big and little people."

O'Malley, in a tribute Tuesday, said Connors offered his assistance when the cardinal first arrived in Boston in 2003. Connors, he said, "combined a life of civic leadership and Christian generosity."

"We have lost a great friend and a great leader of our common life in Greater Boston, but we are a better community of neighbors, friends, and citizens because he lived and worked among us for so long," O'Malley said.

Back in 2006, then-Mayor Menino tapped Connors to help develop a summer plan for children in Boston. Connors realized some kids in the city lived only miles from the harbor, but had never seen the ocean before. That led to the creation of Camp Harbor View, a day camp that now serves about 1,000 children each year.

Sharon McNally, chief executive of Camp Harbor View, said Connors' imagination and creativity were his secret weapons in building relationships and organizations.

"His approach to problem solving was sort of unique," she said. "Once he came up with a potential solution, his dedication to having it come true was just beyond comprehension. He's just completely committed and very hardworking. And also he knew how to attract the right people for the right work."

The people he wanted to work with, she recalled him saying, "had to be smart and nice." Camp Harbor View asked people to share memories of Connors on its website.

McNally said Connors' family was the thing he prized most in life. He is survived by his wife, Eileen, four children and thirteen grandchildren.

Gov. Maura Healey described Connors as a friend and mentor, and said Massachusetts has lost a champion.

"He changed the trajectory of so many people's lives — kids especially," Healey said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. "When you think about Camp Harbor View. When you think about what he did to support our health care system and help make Massachusetts this global hub of life sciences, of world-class health care."

Healey said his legacy should be an inspiration: "We won't see someone like Jack Connors again."

Material from WBUR's Radio Boston was included in this report. With additional reporting by WBUR's CiCi Yu, Walter Wuthmann and Deborah Becker.