Jack & Jean Cummings

Posted on September 6, 2012 By Editor Senior Residents

By Amanda Ford –
Resident Community News –

Jack and Jean Cummings have seen it all. Missionary trips have taken the couple all over the world to “just about any place you would think of and a lot of places that you wouldn’t” according to Jack. But wherever their travels take them, they always come back to the place they call home—Jacksonville, Florida.
In 1966 they moved to the San Jose area where Jack started his own ink manufacturing company. While at the company, Jack and a few other businessmen started up Christian Light Ministries. The organization helps pastors and missionaries administer their own finances and enable people to present the Gospel all over the world.
While Jack has traveled on many of the mission trips, he realizes that there is no place like Jacksonville.
“I have enjoyed every minute, but I absolutely miss Florida when I am gone,” he said.
The former football captain and cheerleader married in 1950, three years after graduating from their Nashville high school. Jack’s job at a previous printer’s ink manufacturing company transferred the couple to Tampa and New Jersey before bringing them to Jacksonville.
They rented a house on San Jose Boulevard before moving with their four children into their current house in the same area two years later.
“A friend and I both had children, and we would just get out and ride around sometimes. We loved to ride over here and see the houses on the river and just go through the neighborhood. We were looking for a house during that time, and this one came on the market. It wasn’t exactly what we wanted, but we thought we’d just stay here until we found something we liked better,” Jean said.
The pair ended up falling in love with the tight-knit feel of the neighborhood and convenience of the area. They explained that back then, their children spent the majority of their time outside with other kids.
“We used to lift our daughter over the fence to play with our neighbor’s children and they would do the same. There were lots of children, and they would go out in the morning and wouldn’t come in ‘till evenings, just playing up and down the street. They were safe—you didn’t have to worry about them,” Jean recalled.
When the family did go out to shop, there weren’t too many places from which to chose. Regency was the first mall to speak of, so if they really wanted to hit the stores, Downtown was the place to be — especially around Christmas.
“We would take the kids down there, and we’d just walk all around town and look at everything. The windows were all decorated so beautifully and they had a Christmas parade. It was a great place to be!” said Jack.
Years later, shopping centers began to slowly appear around town.
“The Lakewood area had a few good shops. I remember a shoe store and a toy store. There was also a pharmacy, but not like the ones we have now. We’d go there and eat lunch at the counter, and have a soda. Life was very different—you didn’t drive the miles you drive now to go everywhere,” Jean said.
Although the two have traveled many miles together, their journey always leads them back to Jacksonville.
“My mother lived in Nashville, and she would always ask me ‘when are you coming home?’ I would say to her, I am at home here in Florida. And there’s really no place like home,” Jack said.