Remembering Jack Conway

Jack Conway was more than a successful businessman and devoted family man. 

Many who knew him, whether professionally or personally, share a similar view of the man behind “Conway Country.”

This view is, that he was a genuine, caring individual who continued to step up to the plate to be a leader and support his community when it would have been easier, and perhaps more convenient, to delegate such responsibilities to others.

His legacy, someone said, is not only in his children, grandchildren and great children, but also in the positive impact he made on those he met.

“It has been my special pleasure to be one of Jack’s friends for the past 36 years,” said Rob Authier, CEO, of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. “Jack Conway often referred to others as ‘That Great American,’ but in fact, Jack himself embodied that label.”

Authier said Conway founded and built Conway Country as one would build a New England town - with a family-orientated and strong positive culture that others model. 

“Infused into that culture is the highest of Realtor principles, including impeccable ethics, engaging positive outlook and strong business sense,” Authier said. “The proof of his effectiveness is that his daughter, Carol, and his entire management team carry on the spirit and culture which Jack and his wife, Patti developed.”

“We hear a lot about icons, but Jack truly is a real estate icon. We all will miss the leadership that he provided to the entire New England real estate community. And I will miss my friend…the Great American.”

Paul Sullivan, vice president of Sullivan Tire, said he knew Conway for many years, and first and foremost admired him not only for his entrepreneurial skills, but for his family spirit.

“That’s what you’re looking for today,” he said. “I think ultimately it will measure the legacy of the Conway family.”

Sullivan described Conway as being a giving man who always looked at the positive.

“He was never negative,” Sullivan said. “He was a true leading man. In Hollywood, he would have been the leading man.”

He also spoke of Conway as being “genuine.”

“He had a skill that I think is missing today,” Sullivan said. “He remembered people’s names, and the names of their spouses and children. I think that is a skill and a great gift and it makes conversations so genuine.”

Sullivan also praised Conway’s family, notably daughter, Carol Conway Bulman, the CEO of Jack Conway & Company.

“She will carry his great legacy forward,” Sullivan said. “The torch of Jack Conway will continue to burn.”

Scituate Board of Selectmen Chairman Joseph Norton simply said that Conway “was a great guy.”

“I know that’s an understatement, but it’s the truth.”

Norton said that despite his success, Conway crossed “all sorts of social barriers” and felt that everyone was his friend.

“He was one of those people who said hello to the presidents of big companies, and also made sure to say hello to the guy who cut the grass,” Norton said. “He went out of his way to be friends with everyone he met, and it showed in his work ethic and in his efforts around town. He’ll be missed.”

South Shore Chamber of Commerce President Peter Forman said in Conway’s passing, “the entire South Shore has lost a great cheerleader and a great friend.

“I’ve known Jack since the early 1980s and he literally, with the brand of Conway Country, came down to the South Shore and by building up interest in the real estate market, helped to build the South Shore, and helped it to become the area that people started looking at.”

Forman called Conway “a great leader who not only drove residential growth, he drove business growth and helped to support so many charities down this way.

“He is very much a prime architect for the South Shore that we now enjoy.”

State Rep. Jim Cantwell, D-Marshfield, said, “Jack Conway is a larger than life figure who has made a tremendous impact on the entire South Shore, ‘Conway Country,’ with his innumerable acts of kindness and service.

“I loved to be in Jack’s company to hear him tell stories of the Boston Herald American Days or of the many characters with whom he had befriended over a long and successful life,” Cantwell said. “He would end many stories about a person with ‘he was a great American.’ Here in Scituate I will remember Jack as the driving force behind bringing back the Fourth of July ceremonies and, with his wife, Patti, for his charitable support for virtually every community organization.

“I will forever be proud to retell stories about Jack with a smile and to end, ‘Jack Conway is truly a great American.’”

John Yazwinski, CEO of Father Bill’s and MainSpring charitable organization, called Conway “one of our angels.

“Jack and Patti helped establish our mission back in the early 1980s when our brothers and sisters were struggling on the streets of Brockton,” Yazwinski said. “He also saw a need for families in our community and we worked together to establish Conway House, in Middleboro, named after him that can house 12 families.”

He said Conway, aware of the housing needs for veterans returning from the war, committed to helping the organization provide residences in Brockton where 15 service men and women can have housing.

“Where Jack has seen a social ill or social issue going on, he is always there to help,” Yazwinski said, adding that Conway was “a person of principle.”

Yazwinski said that for over three decades Conway coordinated a golf tournament that has raised more than $500,000 for MainSpring House and Conway House.

“All proceeds from the tournament went straight to support these residences,” he said.

Conway is considered by Father Bill’s and MainSpring as one of its founders, according to Yazwinski.

“We were blessed to have had him be a partner in support of our mission.”

Ed Covell, Commander of American Legion Post 144, said he first met Conway in 1957 when the two were supporting Murray Snow, who was running for a spot on the Scituate Board of Selectmen.

“I can tell you he was like the best grandfather you could have,” Covell said. “He was such a warm and caring person. There were occasions when I would be with him and he would see a sales agent who might have been with him for 25 years, or who had just joined three months ago, and either way he would know them by name and would ask about their family. He had the most amazing mind for names and faces than anyone I’ve ever met, and I believe that stems from the fact that he really cared about people.”

Covell also know Conway from a business perspective; he had worked for Conway for 10 years.

“He was active in the business up until just a few months ago,” Covell said. He pretty much worked seven days a week. He and (wife) Patti would take an afternoon drive and visit open houses, or sales offices on a Sunday afternoon. He was always very involved. The business was the second love of his life and he nurtured it. He knew everything that was going on in the company and we all knew it.”

Conway was a member of the American Legion Post 144.

“He joined the Legion Post about eight years ago at my insistence,” Covell said. “I don’t think he thought a lot about his veteran service because he hadn’t actually been deployed. But I told him his service was as dear to his country as someone who had served three tours. He had put on the uniform and was ready to go. He is a full-fledged veteran in my book.”

Covell said Conway’s giving nature was apparent in his generosity towards service men and women.

“He provided comfort to troops and their families for years and years and years,” Covell said. “He would send care packages overseas, especially if it were for the son or daughter of one of his employees.  And when they returned, he would bring them into a sales meeting and congratulate them and acknowledge their service in front of everyone.”

It was Conway, according to Covell, “who got us started in celebrating the Fourth of July in Scituate after a 50-year hiatus.

“He was an absolute inspiration,” he said. “He was a mentor to me on how to get projects done. He was just a wonderful, wonderful man. I can’t say enough about him. He will be missed dearly.”

Ruth Thompson can be reached at rthompson@wickedlocal.com.