John H. O'Connor

Jack O’Connor, long-time resident of Carlisle, MA died from pneumonia on Wednesday morning, December 18, 2024 after a brief hospitalization. Jack was 86. He leaves behind his wife and best friend, Jen Bush.

Jack’s early years were significantly shaped by all the time he spent in New Hampshire, beginning when his family purchased an antique house in Weare around 1950. That is where the family discovered local traditional New England dances; soon his mother started buying him instruments at local yard and estate sales. Jack learned to play several instruments and was eventually given a chance to play bass with many legendary old-time musicians in the area. In the early days he played bass and fiddle and later focused on mandolin as well as tenor banjo and percussion.

Music, in many forms, remained an important part of Jack’s entire life. He played for contra dances at the Concord Scout House with Yankee Ingenuity and other groups, and most recently co-produced the Monday Contras at the Scout House, where he played a dance just a few weeks before his passing. For a time, international music and dance became his focus, and he loved the rhythms and tones found in music of Greece, the Balkans, and the Middle East. Jack was known for his annual holiday party that included singing pagan carols as well as the Messiah to the accompaniment of the pipe organ in his house. The parties were legendary—musicians jamming in every room, the enormous bowl of eggnog, fires in the fireplaces, the live tree with real candles that were lit later in the evening, and Jack in his velvet breeches and velvet cap. Jack also helped to begin the Carlisle Dance, a contra dance held in Union Hall at FRS each month. This dance was started in the 1970’s and continues to this day.

Jack moved to Carlisle in 1970 and eventually worked at Digital Equipment Corp as a technical writer. He devoted himself to restoring the antique house on the common that he loved. Unafraid of challenging projects, and with the help of friends with expertise, he built a greenhouse for Jen, designed and had built a fan window for the back porch, built a shed, installed pine floors and paneling appropriate to the house. He also cared deeply about Carlisle’s historic center, the town common, and preserving the look and feel of a New England town center. 

Jack gave back to the town in many ways. At one time, Town Meetings were difficult to participate in, due to the school auditorium’s very old sound system. Jack brought in speakers, microphones, a mixing board, helpful signage, and then ran the sound board, all to make the meetings run more smoothly. 

Jack got involved in local conservation, using his antique tractor to mow Towle and Benfield Fields for the Carlisle Conservation Commission. The goal was to get Towle Field clear of invasive buckthorn and prevalent poison ivy and to clear the land back to the stone walls. He volunteered at Foss Farm as the garden manager, keeping pumps in working order, staking garden plots in the spring, assigning plots, and implementing the Commission’s rules for all the gardens.

In the 1980’s at Pinewoods, a dance camp in Plymouth, Jack had the opportunity to revive an interest from his New Hampshire days, setting up antique telephone intercoms throughout the camp, stringing wire through the woods to connect the different camp buildings. He had done a similar thing during his young years in New Hampshire, running wire through the woods to the nearest neighbor, who had regular telephone service. A couple of antique crank phones between the two houses were the one connection with the outside world. At Pinewoods, in the days before cell phones, this old telephone technology had a big impact on the camp’s communication and efficient operation.

Jack had so many interests—sailing, gardening, antiques, doting on his cats, rescuing items from the Swap shed, sharing suppers by the fire at the kitchen table. He led a life of music, connection to friends, and a “can do” spirit that led him to try all kinds of things.

Services for Jack were private

Donations in Jack’s memory can be made to:
Concord Scout House
74 Walden St.
Concord, MA 01742

Arrangements are under the care of Concord Funeral Home, 74 Belknap Street, Concord, MA 01742  978-369-3388 www.concordfuneral.com