J.W. Cornell, 83; ran building firm

J. William Cornell, 83, the fourth generation of his family to run the Center City construction management firm J.S. Cornell & Son, died Saturday, Oct. 6, of congestive heart failure at his home in Barnegat Light, N.J. He had previously lived in Blue Bell.

Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Cornell graduated from Germantown Academy in 1946 and earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering at the University of Pennsylvania in 1950.

Except for Army service from 1954 to 1956, Mr. Cornell was with his family firm from 1951 until he retired in 2000, serving since the 1970s as chairman of the board.

"In the early 1900s, many of the Main Line estates were built by J.S. Cornell," his wife, Kit, said.

In recent decades, she said, "they've been involved with a lot of historic restorations."

The firm's credits include, among others, the 1985 renovation of the steeple at Christ Church in Philadelphia and the pavilion at the Fairmount Water Works in 1987-88, as well as the 1989 restoration of Swann Fountain in Logan Square.

During Mr. Cornell's chairmanship, the firm also replaced the grandstand at the Devon Horse Show fairgrounds and renovated the Barnes Foundation in Merion.

Mr. Cornell was president in 1971 of the Carpenters' Company, where he had been a member since 1951, and a member of the Philadelphia Historical Commission from 1990 to 1998.

He was a board member from 1984 to 1990 at what is now Arcadia University, at Carson Valley School from 1977 to 1997, and at the Young Women's Boarding Home Association from 1977 to 1981.

A member of the Union League, he was a member of the Chestnut Hill Historical Society from 1985 to 1996 and a vestryman at St. Thomas' Church in Whitemarsh from 1973 to 1990.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Cornell is survived by a daughter, Nina Cornell Koesterer; a grandson; and his former wife, Nancy Fleming Cornell.

A memorial service was set for 11:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 9, at St. Thomas' Church, Bethlehem Pike and Camp Hill Road, Fort Washington.