Obituary of Jack H. Porter, Jr.
Jack Hibbard Porter, Jr., died on September 26, 2024, of complications from
Parkinsons’ disease, with which he had lived for 10 years. Born in Evanston,
Illinois on November 20, 1942 [the same date as Joe Biden, of which he was
very proud], Jay moved to New York City in 1961 to attend Columbia College.
He never returned to the Mid-West, although he retained his love of sweets,
especially ice cream, as well as his accent throughout his life.
Morningside Heights became central to Jay’s life. He and Toni first met in the
hallway of the walk-up building on 114 th Street across from Butler Library
where his 4 th floor apartment was directly above hers. After graduation from
the College in 1964, he remained in the same apartment to continue at the
Graduate School of Business. After a brief stint as a marketing manager at
Lever Brothers, which included a year in Scranton, PA, [another connection to
Biden], he spent more than two decades as a development officer at the
Business School.
Boating was Jay’s passion. After an initiation to sailing as crew on a Star boat
on Lake Michigan, Jay bought his first boat, a Paul Luke center-board yawl, at
25. Too small. The next was the Vega II, a 44-year-old commuter yacht, which
he and his young family [Toni, then his wife, and two kids, Elisabeth and
Geoffrey under age three, and a three-year old St. Bernard] cruised for a year.
Two other family cruises followed: a 1978 three-month cruise [the kids’
school-agers, no dog] on Chance, a 43-foot Camper & Nicholsons sloop to
Grand Bahama; and the second, in 1984, on Distant Star, a 57-foot Hodgdon
Brothers trawler with the kids, then teenagers, and a two-year-old Golden
Retriever, to the Bahama Family Islands. Unwedded to particular builders,
other boats included a 53-foot Hatteras cockpit yacht; a short-lived
experience with a Riva Aquarama; Second Star, a beloved 42-foot Young
Brothers Maine lobster boat, and Day Star, his last big boat. When Jay’s disease forced him to give up boating, he owned an Apreamare, a gozzo which he fell in love with during trips to Italy. Jay carried his love of boating into the Long Island Sound Swim Across America, of which he was the Boating Committee Chair for 12 years.
An avid reader of Road and Track from the time he was twelve, Jay also loved cars, particularly his Mini Cooper. He was proud to be the oldest student—68—at the Skip Barber Racing School.
A beloved husband, father and grandfather, Jay is survived by his wife of 58 years, Toni; children, Elisabeth [Bill Goldstein] and Geoffrey [Ada Porter]; his grandsons-Jonas, Maccabee, Ari, and Ezra; his brother, David Porter; and his brother-in-law, Ken Brown [Claire Brown]. He also leaves his bereft Corgi, Luke.
We will be celebrating Jack's life on October 1, 2024, at the John J Fox Funeral
Home, 2080 Boston Post Road , Larchmont NY 10538 from 1:00 pm - 3:00
pm. A service will be conducted at 2:00pm.
In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate a donation to Swim Across
America-Long Island Sound, 8508 Park Road #389, Charlotte, NC 28210 or the
Parkinson’s Foundation [www.Parkinson.org].