The John W. Spaeth III Earthkeeper Award

In his earliest years during the summers on the lake, Jack spent time with the staff of the nearby Inn on Newfound Lake, watching as they repaired tractors and tackled other work. Over time, he began to work at the Inn himself, eventually becoming head chef. He also helped out on construction projects and learned to row on the lake.

Jack attended public schools in Middletown until after his freshman year of high school, when he transferred to Mount Hermon, a private boarding school in Massachusetts, graduating there in 1957.

He spent a year at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida before serving two years in the military, working as a legal clerk for the U.S. Army, then another year at college before starting his first career in real estate and insurance. He worked for Aetna in Richmond, Virginia just outside of Washington, D.C. and later in Hartford. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Hartford.

Jack met his future wife, Susan, at his home parish of Holy Trinity in Middletown. Not long after they wed, he left Aetna and took a position with McCutcheon & Burr, a Middletown real estate and insurance company. He and Susan bought a house in Middletown, just blocks from where he grew up.

The company, and Jack, developed a reputation for construction, sales and management of condominiums with the success of groundbreaking projects in Cromwell. They went on to complete other condominium projects as well as individual property developments.

In the midst of this, the church came calling.

Jack was a life-long Episcopalian and an active member of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Middletown, with his family. He sang in the choir and served as an acolyte while a teenager. Later, he served as the church’s warden and was a member of their investment committee and building committee.

Jack also served on the Finance Committee for the entire Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut. Through that, he met Fred Osborn, then the Director of Administration for the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut. Fred invited Jack to serve as his assistant on the staff, and after consulting with Susan, he agreed.

The director left soon afterwards and within a year Jack was appointed as his successor.

From the beginning, Jack’s work focused on real estate and insurance. Over time his work portfolio — and his influence — grew, informed by his additional knowledge of mechanics, construction, legal documentation, tax and employment law, finances, investments, and business negotiation. He served under Bishop Arthur T. Walmsley, Bishop Clarence N. Coleridge, Bishop Andrew D. Smith, and, by request, for a few years into the tenure of Bishop Ian T. Douglas before retiring in 2011 as Canon for Stewardship & Administration and Secretary of the Diocese. He retired in 2012 from his work on the diocesan investment committee.

The diocesan office spurred his engagement with a growing environmental ministry.

A wealthy benefactor had donated her three-story mansion in the West End of Hartford to the Diocese in the 1950s to serve as an office for the bishops and staff. It had two coal-burning furnaces in the basement dating to 1913. They’d been converted to use oil prior to Jack’s arrival and burned about 15,000 gallons of Number 2 oil a year. There were no storm windows or insulation, either. Already a devoted steward of financial and other resources, it seemed a waste of money and fuel to Jack.

He had the storm windows installed, oversaw changes in the oil burners to make them more efficient, and hired contractors to blow in insulation in the attic and walls and to seal all but two of the chimneys. Over the years as diocesan staff expanded and began to use previously vacant rooms, he arranged for them to have electric baseboard heaters on timers. Later, he had circulation pumps with programmable thermostats installed and replaced incandescent lightbulbs. He also switched to an all-green energy provider, even though it cost more per kilowatt hour.

Jack became staff liaison to the Diocesan Committee on the Environment. He promoted energy efficiency and buying green energy to clergy and lay leaders in the 160+ parishes of the Diocese. He expanded his ministry to volunteer with the Inter-Religious Eco Justice Network (IREJN) as their treasurer/

Since leaving diocesan service, Jack has helped his home parish become more energy efficient and he still fields calls from people asking for his advice. He continues to make changes in his own home as well.

Jack is humble about his impact on the work of caring for creation, though he knows that he’s been in a position to give advice and lead by example time and again. “People would listen to me when I talked about saving money, and I have a passion for saving money for energy,” he said.

“I try to be a good steward, and pass that on to others.”