Community Remembers Trailblazing Cumberland County Leader Jack Surrency
Cumberland County Freeholder Jack Surrency. Photo courtesy of Jack Surrency
BY CLYDE HUGHES | AC JosepH Media
BRIDGETON – One of South Jersey’s trailblazing Black leaders Jack Surrency, a former member of the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners and Bridgeton City Council, died over the weekend, according to friends and colleagues.
Surrency was serving as president of the CompleteCare Health Network board of directors when he passed. He was also serving as business administrator for the Borough of Penns Grove.
“As I directly worked with Jack as a board member of CompleteCare, I have been blessed to spend time with him in just listening to his life and professional experiences,” said CompleteCare vice president Arthur Horn, an executive of Rowan College of South Jersey.
“Jack was interested in what was best for the collective. His had a willingness to advocate on behalf of others. Jack’s advocacy benefited others at the deficit of his own personal progress. This is part of the legacy he left for myself and others to continue. Jack will be missed tremendously.”
Frank Minor, Mayor of Logan Township and a longtime friend of Surrency, said that he left an indelible mark not only on just the political scene but for the way he wanted to give a voice to the voiceless in the region.
“Jack Surrency was a close personal friend for over 40 years,” said Minor, the leader of the South Jersey Political Black Caucus. “He was a trailblazer and a legend in Cumberland County, and a genuinely good person. His many accomplishments are well documented.
“He leaves a legacy as a dedicated public servant who brought positive change to the community he represented and improved the lives of the people he served. Jack will be truly missed by all of us who were fortunate enough to have known him.”
Surrency was a Cumberland County political veteran with nearly 20 years in elected office. His roots in Bridgeton ran deep with his parents and grandparents involved in civil rights there growing up. Originally recruited into politics by Bridgeton Mayor Albert Kelly, he served on the Bridgeton Board of Education from 2002 to 2010 and then transitions to Bridgeton City Council from 2011 to 2017
He served part of that time as council president before winning seat as a Cumberland County freeholder in 2017, the only African-American on the board at the time, through 2021.
“I’m very community oriented,” Surrency told Front Runner New Jersey in a 2020 interview. “I try to do whatever I can do for my community. When I was on the school board, I did things for the school board, for the kids. When I became a city councilman, I focused on things I could we do to better everyone in Bridgeton.”
He was a graduate of Bridgeton High School and went on to attend Cumberland County College and then the Tuskegee Institute, majoring in chemistry with a Business minor. Surrency also holds a master’s degree in community and economic development from New Hampshire College in Manchester.
Over the years, he has held posts at Hunt Wesson Foods, Atlantic Richfield Company of Pennsylvania, and Mobil’s research and development division in Paulsboro. In addition to his professional portfolio he has served on the board of Tri-County Community Action Agency, Big Brother-Big Sisters, and Salem County College Educational Opportunity Fund Board.
He had served on the Boards of United Way of Greater Cumberland County, Cumberland County RSVP and the Cumberland County YSAC Advisory Board. Jack is also a proud husband, father and grandfather.
After losing his last race for his Cumberland County Commissioner’s seat in 2020, Surrency told Front Runner New Jersey that his work was never defined by titles and that he would keep working for the community he grew up in to make sure everyone was treated fairly and with respect.
“I’m going to refuel, recharge, and utilize my last six months left in office to continue my fight on corrections’ reforms, COVID, micro-loans, access to recreation and public transportation, and putting an end to contracts that delegitimize our county,” Surrency said then, defining his career as a fighter.
“Whether as a school board member, councilman, freeholder or private citizen, a title doesn’t define my work I do. And there’s still much work to do; we can do more. Thank you.”
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