Obituary for John "Jack" Hal Connor III
John Hal Connor, III, “Jack,” died suddenly on July 12, 2024 at his home in Franklin, NC.
He was born January 26, 1949 in Champaign, IL to the late John Hal Connor, Jr. of Dekalb, IL and Martha Ayer Harley Connor of Barnwell, SC. Upon the elder Connor’s completion of law school at the University of Illinois in 1950, the young family moved to Winter Haven, Fl, where Jack was raised and, according to local legend, raised a considerable amount of, well, Cain.
He was a legendary risk taker, “jeeping” in Central Florida’s phosphate pits and pulling water skiers frighteningly close to alligators that were prevalent in Winter Haven’s chain of lakes. Upon returning from Vietnam in 1969, he famously led local police on high-speed chases along rural, two-lane highways, at times with the assistance of long-haul truckers who had heard of the “blue phantom,” as he was described in the local newspaper, and would pull over onto the center line to block police cars in pursuit. Jack’s father, a former city attorney, judge, and respected attorney, who had promised Jack any car he wanted if he made it home alive from the war, was never the wiser. Eventually bored with his anonymous infamy, Jack one day drove his 1967 Plymouth GTX, known as a “muscle car,” to the police department, parked in the lot, left the key in the ignition, and walked away. He was never charged. Jack, as he was known to family and friends, was a man of many interests and hobbies, all of which he seemed to master with ease. He was a competitive sporting clay shooter, an avid waterman, a semi-pro golfer, an artist, gardener and epicurean. He began cooking during childhood and loved inventing fresh combinations of ingredients to create a cuisine no one appreciated more than he. He was also a successful real estate appraiser, who lived for several years on a boat. He was happiest on the water but retired from the boating life five years ago to seek higher ground. This was, perhaps, an instinct likely honed during his time with the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam, where he served in 1968. Jack was proudest of being a Marine, an identity that defined his life, especially in his latter years. Most of his comrades predeceased him from the effects of Agent Orange. Semper fidelis was his operating principle both as a Marine and as a friend to many.
He was a patriot, a relentless wit, a devoted father to three children, and brother to two sisters, including Kathleen Parker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Washington Post. Despite a divorce from the mother of his children, Anne Attaway Connor of Winter Park, FL, the two remained close friends, working together in real estate, sharing two granddaughters and talking often by phone. Jack is survived by his daughter and son-in-law: Kathryn and Campbell McCrary of New York City, NY; two sons: Christopher Connor of Longwood, FL and Tradd and Kelsey Connor of Henryetta, OK; sisters and brother-in-law, Kathleen “Parker” Cleveland and Sherwood McKissick Cleveland of Camden, SC and Sarah Heithaus of Tampa, FL; and grandchildren, Eugenia McCrary and Aubrey McCrary.
A graveside service will be held in Barnwell, SC at the Baptist Cemetery at 11 a.m. on August 1st, 2024. Online condolences may be left at BryantGrantFuneralHome.com of Franklin or www.molefh.com of Barnwell.
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