Luther Glenn Connor, of East Flat Rock, N.C., a veteran and lifelong Christian, passed away on Thursday, January 11, 2024. He was 97 years old.
Glenn was born in Old Fort, N.C., on May 31, 1926, the second youngest of 10 children of the late William Connor and Mary Ann Virginia Freeman Connor. He also had five half-siblings. He lived most of his life in Henderson County, to which the family moved when he was 5 years old.
The son of sharecroppers, Glenn, as he was known by family and friends, had a sharp aptitude for learning. He graduated valedictorian of the Class of 1943 from Flat Rock High School. Glenn was greatly influenced by an English teacher there, Susie Sinclair, who taught him a love of Shakespeare plays and epic poems by Tennyson. She also encouraged him to become an expert in typing and shorthand, saying that those skills would help him get a good job.
Growing up in a household with so many children, Glenn was given responsibilities at a young age, particularly taking care of his baby sister, Alice. Glenn often said that Alice was a mischievous child and it was all he could do to keep her out of trouble.
In 1954 Glenn was drafted into the U.S. Army and after completing basic training in Augusta, Ga., was sent to Fitzsimons Army Hospital in Aurora, Colo., to serve as a stenographer. This is where his shorthand skills paid off. Glenn’s experience at the army hospital proved to be life changing, allowing him to see a good swath of the U.S. and to make friends with people from all corners of the country. Glenn was proud of his service there and for having served under the command of Col. Oscar T. Nations, who Glenn described as a fine Christian man and a wonderful leader.
Upon returning to civilian life, Glenn worked in several clerical jobs before joining the Hendersonville City Schools system as purchasing agent. He retired from the school system in 1988, after more than two decades of service.
Glenn had a strong faith and served the Lord all his life, primarily through his musical talents. He taught himself to read music at an early age and to play a handed-down parlor organ that was stored in the feed room of a barn at the family’s Hendersonville farm. He showed such promise on a decrepit instrument that his older sister, Loretta, used her own meager savings during the Depression to buy Glenn a new piano on a payment plan.
By the age of 16, Glenn was playing piano for the Barker Heights Baptist Church. He added the duties of directing the children’s choir, the youth choir and eventually the adult choir there. He was a gifted pianist, able to play hundreds of songs from memory from favorite hymns to pop tunes to Chopin etudes. His talents led to his serving as church organist in several Hendersonville churches, most notably Shaws Creek Baptist Church and West Hendersonville Baptist Church. He also played piano at a Denver-area church while in the Army. In his later years, he was a member of Main Street Baptist Church of Hendersonville.
Glenn’s keen intellect also extended to teaching himself German, which he used to communicate with the family of his now deceased brother-in-law, Martin Schuller, who emigrated from Austria and married Alice. One of the highlights of Glenn’s life was traveling with Martin, Alice and their children to Austria, to visit with Martin’s family and see the Alps.
When Glenn’s mother grew old, Glenn, Alice and Martin all lived together, helping to take care of Virginia. After she died, the household remained intact, and Glenn, Alice and Martin lived together with Alice and Martin’s children. After Martin died in 1984, Glenn continued to live with his baby sister, and they remained together—and took care of each other—into their old age.
After retirement, Glenn relied upon his remarkable memory to write an autobiography that he shared with family. The book was part memoir – rich with personal anecdotes — and part Henderson County history, including the worst years of the Depression, life on the home front during World War II and the integration of Hendersonville City Schools.
A kind, thoughtful and gentle man, Glenn loved his extended family, and they cherished him. Survivors include his younger sister, Alice (Connor) Schuller; Alice’s children who Glenn helped raise, Jennifer (Schuller) Forsyth of Asheville, N.C., and William “Billy” Schuller of Hendersonville, and their respective spouses, John Forsyth and Tracy Schuller; Billy’s sons, Matthew Schuller of Greenville, N.C., and Kaleb Schuller and Kaleb’s wife, Cheryl, of Hendersonville; Billy’s grandchildren; and many other nieces and nephews, with whom he was very close. Glenn was predeceased by his sister Loretta and his seven brothers.
His favorite Bible verse was Isaiah 26:3: “Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee.”
A funeral service will be at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, January 16, 2024, in the Chapel in The Pines of Jackson Funeral Service, 1101 Greenville Hwy., Hendersonville. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Burial will be private.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the American Cancer Society or a charity of one’s choice in Glenn’s memory.
Jackson Funeral Service is honored to serve the Connor family.