Kind Eyes: A Tribute to Jack
Jack Conard Jr. / Photo by Deborah Young
This cover story appears in the July print issue of Cornelius Today
By Jon Show – Jack Conard Jr., whose collections helped preserve Cornelius history for generations, died June 2. He was 78.
Jack was widely known for documenting the town’s past through an extensive collection of photographs and artifacts. His work chronicled Cornelius before the creation of Lake Norman and the rapid growth that transformed the community.
The people who knew Jack best often joked his photos were holding up the walls in his home on Main Street. The vastness of his collection is unfathomable: binders upon binders of photographs and notes. The walls of his home are papered with memories, mementos and more.
They are the remnants of a life well lived. The memories left behind by a truly kind soul who found human connection through his collection of history.
In one binder there is a note dated Jan. 30, 1992. Jack recounted a meeting with a friend and their discussion of town history.
“If someone doesn’t start writing this stuff down, it will be lost after the older generation, who lived in the early days, is gone. That someone might as well be me.”
The journal entry contains a postscript at the bottom: “The past lives today in the fond memories of those who were there.”
In that moment, at the age of 44, a free-spirited Jack found his passion and his purpose in life – preserving the history of the town that he cared so deeply about.
By some estimates, Jack amassed hundreds of thousands of photographs over the years. Many depict the history of the town, much of it documenting what has been lost over time. A few even show what Jack was having for lunch on a given day. The images below represent a minuscule sampling of photos he presumably took with his own camera.
In his final days, Jack’s friend Paula Wolfe sat at his bedside and asked him some questions as he reflected on a full life.
What are you most proud of?
That I stayed with one thing for a long time. Journaling since 1976 and saving a little of Cornelius history.
What are your happiest, most meaningful memories?
Having my goddaughter Kelly and my relationship with my family.
What are some of the lessons that life taught you?
To never say never.
What advice would you pass along?
To never give advice.
Is there anything that you would like to let go, or make peace with?
No. I would do it all the same way all over again.
What do you hope that people take from your life story?
My memories and stories of the town before the lake and power plant. When it was just the cotton mill and general stores.
