Jim “Framer” Connor passed away at age 83 on Thursday, April 8th, 2021 in his home in Hudson, Florida.

Jim was the first of three boys born to Violet and Clifford Connor on January 19, 1938. Life was hard for this family of first generation Americans during the struggles of the Second World War. Jim learned to build and fix everything from cars to machinery as a young man. He found his first career as a steeple jack. Using ropes, tackle and wood staging, he maintained, cleaned and repaired giant industrial smoke stacks across the northeast. The job was perilous and Jim saw many of his peers die tragically. After one such harrowing incident where his boss tied Jim’s safety line to the caboose of a train which then pulled away, he decided to find another career. He apprenticed as a carpenter and learned to play guitar. He excelled at both, and was soon running a framing crew building houses, and running a band playing local venues on nights and weekends. His band was well known in the area, but he gave it up when his daughter Georgia was born. Throughout the rest of his life, he played music for family and friends including recording many songs with accompaniment from his grandchildren.

Jim built condominiums, houses, remodeled hotels, and many other construction projects. He founded J.A. Connor and Son, which survived many turbulent economic events in the 70’s and 80’s. As a capable draftsman, Jim also designed and built prints for many custom homes built by J.A. Connor and Son. He also founded a machining and assembly company, Interior Specialists Inc (ISC), which fabricated a device he invented with his brother Fred called The Handle Master.

Jim was kind, and generous. He was well known throughout the towns of Coventry and West Greenwich, RI. He served for years as a police special deputy in West Greenwich and there are countless stories of him helping folks in need. As one such example, in the worst blizzard to ever hit Rhode Island in 1978, Jim took in a family of 5 that he found stranded in their car and provided shelter for them for many days.  He also spent countless hours during the blizzard helping everyone in need whether it was bringing baby food to a trapped family or using his generator to chill people’s refrigerator and warm their homes up.

Jim had many hobbies during his life including competition shooting, hunting and fishing, woodwork and cabinetry, music, chess, photography, and restoring 1963 Chryslers (3 of them). He was rarely bored and often had a to-do list a mile long, even into his 80s.

In 1989, Jim retired to Hudson where he lived with his wife Ann. He worked locally as a handy man and performed various property maintenance tasks for local property managers and property owners. Jim often employed neighborhood folks who were struggling to find work. He taught countless people the fundamentals of construction and trade work. He was always helping someone back to their feet including family, friends, and neighbors.

The story of Jim Connor could fill countless novels. He was hard working, generous, and kind. He was brilliant and stubborn. He often expected a lot from those around him, and those that loved him occasionally wanted to strangle him. But above all, he loved his family and he will be dearly missed. Jim is survived by his wife of 57 years Ann, his brothers Ed (Bonnie) and Fred (Lorraine), his three children, Georgia(Johnny), Sandra(Darrell), and James Jr.(Tara), his seven grandchildren Renee(Ray), Kayla, Shaun, Melody, Brandon, Heather, and James Liam, and his three great grandchildren Alexandria, Patrick and Matthew.

Celebration of Life will take place April 24, 2021 at 2pm. Via Zoom. Please follow the link to join.

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