A Searcher's Club Report:

IN SEARCH OF MORE LIGHT IN MASONRY ...

 “The Masonic Legacy of Bro. Joseph Diele:

An Examination of a Life in the Quarries.”

On Monday February 20, 2012, The Searchers Club the held a round table discussion and "An Examination of the Masonic Legacy of Bro. Joseph Diele: An Examination of a Life in the Quarries.”  The meeting was held in the Livingston Masonic Library in Masonic Hall, NYC, with RW Tomas Savini, Executive Director of the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library as host and resident expert for the discussion. The focus of the evening centered on two boxes of memorabilia sent by a friend, the daughter of the late Brother Joseph A. Diele, to Brother Darryl Perry of Joseph Warren-Gothic Lodge. Brother Perry was one of the early organizers of the Searchers Club together with Brother Earnest Hudson.  Brother Perry received the bequeathed items for assessment and evaluation.

Over nearly 40 years Brother Joe A. Diele led a full and very varied Masonic career at home and abroad, leaving behind a small treasure trove of Masonic related items such as most Brother Masons tend to collect over a lifetime. These included key chains, pins, ceremonial jewels, certificates of commendation and rank, hats and jewels pertaining to the Scottish Rite and fezzes from two Shriner'sTemples among other items found in the boxes.

From what was "discovered"  amid the many artifacts, it was discerned that Brother Joseph had conferred upon him the Exalted 33rd Degree of the Scottish Rite. He was a District Deputy in Japanand Korea for several successive terms. He served as District Deputy Grand Master, China District Grand Lodge of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1980 and again in 2000. He was Worshipful Master of his mother Lodge, Sinim Lodge, Japan, under the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts in 1986. He also organized and helped build the new Tokyo Masonic Center.

With some twenty Masons present at the Searchers Club meeting, there  were several Brothers with many years of vast Masonic experiences. These included RW Bill Thomas, RW Kurt Ott,  RW and retired Army Col. Brother John Chang, and RW Ron Steiner, Chairman of the Grand Lodge Public Relations Committee. RW Steiner gave a background  history of Freemasonry in Asia. There was also a discussion of current, modern Freemasonry in the Orient. RW.: Tom Savini, contributed many important points to our understanding.

The evening proved to be somber, engaging, and informative as Masons meditated out loud to the group, and in sidebar commentary, the amount of time and dedication required to amass these treasured items over Brother Diele's lifetime in the quarries of our craft.  It also showed that no material object can possibly convey the richness of the experience that we, as Masons, share together.

Bro. Darrell B. Perry

Joseph Warren-Gothic Lodge #934