Jack Wilcox, a longtime supporter and contributor to the LGBT community in Philadelphia, died Jan. 19 after a long battle with mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. He was 66.
Wilcox was born in Boston on May 21, 1945, and raised in Quincy, Mass., before moving to Hartford, Conn., where he spent most of his adult life. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts in 1966.
Wilcox worked as a business manager for the Hartford Public Library from 1975-2000.
Wilcox’s friend and lawyer Virginia Gutierrez said that even though Wilcox spent most of his life in New England, he was a loyal fan of sport teams from outside the region.
“He was a Dallas Cowboys fan, which was odd, and he was a Yankees fan, which was a total betrayal of the Boston Red Sox,” she said. “He was a sports person but he spent most of his time listening to classical music.”
Wilcox retired in 2000 and moved to Philadelphia in 2001. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2005.
Both Wilcox and Gutierrez believe he came into contact with asbestos at the library.
During his decade in Philadelphia, he became known for his involvement and contributions to the LGBT community.
“He was estranged from his biological family,” Gutierrez said. “He made his own family. He included quite a bit of us in his family. He was most associated with the William Way [LGBT] Community Center. I met him when I was co-chair of the board of directors at the William Way. He was the only guy that showed up consistently to all the board meetings and he would ask us all these questions about our finances.”
Chris Bartlett, executive director of the William Way LGBT Community Center, said that Wilcox was incredibly generous and dedicated to the center, as well as “a great set of eyes” on the center’s books.
“Just on my first six months on the job, he was a huge asset because he knew the organization inside out and he cold help me to see what our challenges and our strengths were.”
Bartlett added that Wilcox loved to be around the community.
“He attended — and was a big believer in — the community potlucks that we did on the holidays,” he said. “So in every way he was part of the foundation of the center.
“He always said that we deserved the best community center in the United States, and his commitment and energy always helped push us in that direction.”
Both Gutierrez and Bartlett said that Wilcox was a great financial contributor to local LGBT organizations.
“All of the settlement money that he received from his asbestos litigation because of his health was given to LGBT-nonprofit organizations,” Gutierrez said. “He was a very frugal guy. He clipped coupons and things like that. But he did give a lot of money to the LGBT community.”
“He established an endowment of $100,000 at the Philadelphia Foundation for the William Way Community Center and we benefit from the annual income from that endowment, which has been a tremendous support for us,” Bartlett added. “He also was a huge supporter of the library and the archives because he came from a library background. He gave a large gift to support the library and the archives, which were renamed in his honor.”
Carrie Jacobs, executive director of The Attic Youth Center, also had fond memories of Wilcox and his involvement with the center.
“He was really quite an interesting fellow and a character,” she said. “We’d have lunch two or three times a year. He was a great supporter. He attended one of our galas on his own and saw that we had youth performances. He was very interested in what we were doing. He was very interested in supporting young people. He was all for supporting our activities and events. He would pay for us to have space at William Way so that the youth could do a performance. He always wanted to give for specific things that he thought would enrich their lives.”
Gutierrez said she was with Wilcox when he succumbed to his illness.
“I was holding his hand and we were listening to Yo-Yo Ma,” she said. “He went very peacefully.”
Wilcox is survived by his ex-partner, Bennie E. Crudupe, who lives in Georgia.
The William Way LGBT Community Center will hold a memorial service for Wilcox on Feb. 12, 1315 Spruce St.