In Memoriam
Date of Passing:
Saturday, October 19, 2019John “Jack” G. Butler, Jr. October 19, 2019 John “Jack” G. Butler, Jr., 77, of Skaneateles passed away on October 19th at Francis House surrounded by his family. A loving husband, adoring father, and kind-hearted Irishman, he was born on February 20, 1942 in Syracuse, the eldest child of the late John G. Butler and Jane Burns Butler. John was a proud veteran of the U.S. Air Force, serving in Aviano, Italy. He was a 1965 graduate of Simmons School of Mortuary Science, a licensed funeral director, and a retired sergeant from the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department, having served the department for over 30 years. John was a gregarious, kind, and generous man who loved people and could strike up a conversation with a stranger in a matter of minutes. His life’s motto, a poem borrowed from the Girl Scouts, was “Make new friends, but keep the old, for one is silver and the other gold.” He aimed to bring a smile to anyone who crossed his path because he always said, “you never know what kind of day someone is having”. Whether he was giving out candy bars to the veterans, adorning the graves of family, friends and colleagues to keep their memory alive, or helping a friend through hard times, he touched the lives of so many. A true gentleman, and an Irishman to the core, John treasured the moments when he could share a smile and a story with all those whom he had the good fortune to meet. Proud of his heritage, he was a devoted member of the Cavalry Club and served on the Troop D Veterans Board of Directors for many years. He also served as a member and former President of the Deputy Sheriff’s Benevolent Association. He was an active member and past president of the Central New York Funeral Directors Association, a member of the New York State Funeral Directors Association, Fraternal Order of Police, Irish Cultural Society of Central New York, American Legion Post #239 Skaneateles, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, New York Guard, Ancient Order of Hibernians, a 40-year member of the Masonic Lodge No. 501 Liverpool, a life member of the Tigris Shrine, Central City Commandery, Central City Riverside Royal Arch Masons, 32nd degree Scottish Rite Valley of Syracuse, Central City Cryptic Council, Masonic War Veterans, Skaneateles Masonic Lodge #522, and the Skaneateles Rod & Gun Club. John will be greatly missed and is survived by his wife of 54 years, Barbara (Comstock); three children, Stacy Drake (Dale), John G. Butler, III (Christa), and Jennifer Grippa (Chris); five grandchildren, Michael, Patrick, Hannah Jane, Chase, and Carson; three step grandchildren, Alex, Matthew, and Christopher; his sister Anna Janet Maloney-Brobst (Bernie) of Florida; his brothers Anders Butler (Deborah) of Syracuse, J. Langley Butler (Eileen) of Virginia, William Butler of Massachusetts; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. Calling hours will be held on Friday, October 25th from 4 to 8pm at Robert D. Gray Funeral Home, Skaneateles, with a Masonic Service at 7:45pm. Funeral services will be held at St. Mary’s of the Lake Catholic Church, Skaneateles on Saturday, October 26th at 10:00am with a private burial to follow at Lakeview Cemetery. Following the services at 1:00pm, family and friends will gather at John’s favorite spot, the Cavalry Club, Troop K Road, Manlius to toast to his life and honor his memory. In lieu of flowers, contributions in John’s name can be made to Francis House, 108 Michaels Ave., Syracuse, NY 13208 or SAVES Ambulance of Skaneateles, or any of the organizations that John loved and supported. The family would like to thank the talented and caring physicians and nurses at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse, all of whom worked hard to care for John and prolong his life, and to the caregivers and volunteers at Francis House who gave him the very best last days of a full and rich life.
The Friendly Word
On August 25th our own Lodge Secretary and Historian R.’. W.’. Gary L. Heinmiller was presented his apron as the Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York.
Congratulations!
The Friendly Word
Hello, Brethren. I am greatly honored to have been elected Worshipful Master of our Lodge. I plan to give my best effort and ability to this endeavor. I want to thank WM Doug Russell, under whom I learned many useful things about being a Master. And I want to start by sharing with all of you three main themes that I would like to develop in our Lodge during this year.
First, the Lodge is an Oasis of Peace and Fellowship.
We are all Brothers and should meet, act and part as such. Attending the Lodge is something to look forward to—not a punishment. An environment of respect and collegiality is necessary if we want to achieve it. Bickering should be left at the door. We will have inexpensive meals either before or after sessions. Officers will take turns preparing them. Your Master will cook for our first Lodge meeting, the Official Visit, which will be on September 17. Hopefully, such activities will help increase Lodge attendance.
Secondly, Lodge sessions will end by 10 p.m. at latest.
Many Brothers have problems with our sessions ending later, as we have to wake up early to go to work, or our significant others do. Arriving home late is not conducive to creating a home-support atmosphere. This hurts Lodge attendance and perhaps leads to leaving the Lodge. This is especially crucial during Degree work. Degrees will end by 10:30 at the latest. We have already changed our By-Laws to start earlier on Degree nights and make this possible.
Thirdly, we come to Lodge to do Masonry.
Hence, every session will include some form of instruction: a program or a short presentation or reading.
And to enable the participation of our newly Initiated Brothers, the Lodge will be lowered to the First, and then Second Degree as these Brothers progress in Masonry. This year we will have only one round of Degrees, two months apart, starting in December. Such an interval between Degrees allows our new Brothers the time to assimilate and learn the concepts and the information received in the Degrees.
On October 1, to honor our Veterans and Sojourners, we will have an open meeting with a catered dinner. Our Keynote Speaker will be RW John Fuller.
I want to end by inviting all our Lodge Brothers to contact me with their ideas, suggestions, criticisms, etc. And come to Lodge, join a committee and participate actively in our work.
Jorge Romeu
The Friendly Word
Worshipful Master – W.’. Jorge L. RomeuSenior Warden – W.’. Timothy S. Hansen
Junior Warden – Bro. James D. Colditz
Secretary – R.’. W.’. Gary L. Heinmiller
Treasurer – R.’. W.’. Ralph I. Haney Jr.
Senior Deacon – Bro. Rainer D. Grimme
Junior Deacon – Bro. Brian R. McGee
Senior Master of Ceremonies – Bro. Christopher P Collins
Junior Master of Ceremonies – Bro. Alan L. Barth
Steward – Bro. David H. Carleo
Steward – Bro. Sean P. Carleo
Chaplain – W.’. William C. Schueltz
Marshal – Bro. James M. Santy Jr.
Tiler – Bro. Russell C. Beckwith
Organist – Bro. Douglas A. Campbell
Lodge Historian – R.’. W.’. Gary L. Heinmiller
Overseers of the Work
R.’. W.’. William Vassily
W.’. Robert Bowles
Bro. Lee Wiggins, DSA
The Friendly Word
This Fall will be a good time to become involved with our Lodge. We will host an official visit for DDGM RW William Toth on Oct. 17th. Then our next meeting, Nov 7th, we will be inducting several candidates as Entered Apprentices. Our second meeting in December will be our annual Christmas Party on the 19th. All are welcome. Stay tuned for more info in The Word and if you haven’t been receiving emails from our Lodge Secretary, please contact me at geoff_2007@verizon.net.
Additionally, before each Lodge meeting, I want all officers to meet in the Lamb Lounge downstairs at 7pm. These will be simple discussions to be sure we remain on track.
One final point of correction to last month’s Word article: the open V&S Dinner should read as Oct. 3rd.
Thanks and keep up that good Masonic Attitude.
W. Geoffrey Linehan
Worshipful Master
Liverpool-Syracuse Lodge# 501
The Friendly Word
Greetings Brethren,
Welcome back. I am grateful to have earned the confidence of my fellow
Masons to be elected Worshipful Master. This year will focus on
education and uncovering the deeper elements of Freemasonry. Our first
meeting will be Sept. 19.
We’ve remained active during the summer. Each Monday evening, during the
park concerts, we’ve begun selling funnel cakes with some success.
Oct. 5th will be our Veterans and Sojourners Dinner with RW Richard
Morley (Senior GW) as the guest of honor. Mark this on your calendars
because he is from Central NY and in line to become the Grand Master for
New York. We’ll be gathering at 6pm and begin dining at 6:30.
The new Northstar program has garnered some eager candidates, so the
Trestle Board agenda for Oct and Nov will likely be switched until the
Spring, making room for our three degrees.
Then Dec. 5th, come show support for our official visit by VW William
Toth (Onon District AGL).
As we gear up for this year, check out this Operative Mason’s Wage
Statement (circa 1400) I discovered at
http://nymasons.org/2016/operative-masons-wage-statement-circa-1400-bce
Let’s also speculate on the future of Masonry: What is our role in the
21st century?
W. Geoffrey Linehan
Worshipful Master
Liverpool-Syracuse Lodge# 501
The Friendly Word
First off, I’d like to thank my Senior Warden Norm Kruth for stepping up and being the Master of the Lodge while my wife and I were on vacation at the ocean. It’s my understanding that everything went well.
The Veterans and Sojourners program will be October 6. All are welcome. Cocktails will be at 6 p.m. and dinner is at 7 p.m. The meeting will follow; our guest speaker for the evening will be RW Charles Catapano, Grand Treasurer.
Up-and-coming in the year we will have a Thanksgiving dinner on Monday, November 17, mostly to say thanks to the ladies who support us. Social hour begins at 6 p.m., dinner is at 7 and the meeting follows.
I have a very exciting year planned for us. And that includes any Brother who would like to visit Liverpool Lodge.
See you from the East.
Bill Schuetz
The Friendly Word
Greeting Brothers!
My tenure as Master is wrapping up and the lodge I can say is in great hands for next year. It has been a true privilege for me to represent and serve the lodge this year. I hope that our Brothers to have attended meetings this year derived some pleasure and satisfaction from the increased educational programs and after lodge fellowship. I know that I have, and I plan on participating next year as well. Our recently raised Master Masons are already placing themselves as integral members if the lodge.
As I have mentioned before the response to Brother Jorge’s new Question Box has been great. One of the questions which seems rather simple is “What makes you a master Mason”. While it seems on the surface as simple as “my obligation,” during our meeting we had several brothers share their thoughts and experiences. The answers we came up with were awesome! In the end we found that we had to look no further than the Brothers around us that work so hard to keep our fraternity what it is. Especially our treasured DSA’s. Being a true Master Mason is found in your actions.
Stay well Brothers!
W.: Christian Woodhead
The Friendly Word
The Friendly Word
Greetings from the east at Liverpool/Syracuse Lodge #501.
We enjoyed a great month of March as we put on a stellar second degree! I am proud of the level of participation that we are seeing from our newly raised brothers. Not to mention the quality of their ritual. We are looking forward to the better weather of spring! Please keep in mind our annual Easter egg hunt the on April 19th. Bring your kids to this fantastic event! The same day we are hosting a boating safety certification course taught by none other than our own Bro. Michael Hoff. If you need this course or are otherwise interested please contact out lodge for more information. As in years past, our lodge plans to participate in the annual Memorial Day parade on May 26th at 9:00 am. Please arrive at Johnson park if you want to join us. Thanks to all our officers and brethren, and all their hard work as we start to wrap up another fantastic year.
Fraternally,
Christian Woodhead, Master
