Autumn Years Spring 2024

J acky came to the United States as part of a 10-member French team on an assignment that was to last 14 months or more. The team was to build the lady’s new torch and make a replica of the left foot for the Statue of Liberty Museum. The original torch and the replicated foot are on display at the museum on Liberty Island. The French, along with Americans, worked on the restoration from 1984 to 1986. The statue was restored for her 100th anniversary by the efforts of the Statue of Liberty Ellis Island Foundation. Recalling those days, the 65-year old Ridgewood resident says, “I got very lucky. I was 25, our team had 18- to 36-year-olds.” He did not know

at the time that the lady would also be a matchmaker, ultimately bringing together him and his wife Anne. After the work of the restoration was finished, Jacky went back to Europe and returned to the states in 1986 to help restore other large-scale works. Anne, 59, had come to New York City from Nantucket in November 1990 with friends to attend a social gathering. The trip had a dual purpose: the party and a chance for Anne to see the New York City marathon. Having grown up in Wellesley, Mass., the mid-point of the Boston Marathon (and a track runner herself) she did not want to miss a chance to see the New York City classic. She was able to watch the marathon

A miniature model of the torch.

with contemporary and traditional art forms. Anne attended the University of Georgia in Athens, spending seven years in Georgia, working for an architect and then for a design firm. She moved on to study building preservation in Massachusetts, including at Harvard University. This led to her work on new and historic projects.

“I got very lucky. I was 25, our team had 18- to 36-year-olds.” He did not know at the time that the lady would also be a matchmaker, ultimately bringing together him and his wife Anne .

from the terrace of an architect’s office on Columbus Circle and met Jacky there while sipping champagne. Historic restoration brought them together. When they met, he had been helping make a new metal steeple of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. Anne had been documenting a historical house on Nantucket, a part of her long term interests. Having grown up in a design-oriented family, she was familiar

Jacky grew up with a sense of history that escapes most Americans. He smiles at what Americans consider “old” because he was baptized in a church that was built 300 years before Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic. The son of a farmer, he grew up half way between Brittany and Bordeaux. Jacky began to learn the craft of metal working and restoration at age 15 when he became a member of Les

30 AUTUMN YEARS I SPRING 2024