GMBooth

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THOMAS A. BOOTH 1902-1986

ThomasBooth1968.jpg

  • MM 1924, WM 1934, Eureka
  • Deputy Grand Master 1961
  • Grand Master 1966-1968

TERM

1966 1967 1968

NOTES

60TH MASONIC ANNIVERSARY, SEPTEMBER 1984

From TROWEL, Spring 1985, Page 25:

n September 21, 1984, Eureka Lodge, A. F. & A. M., New Bedford, held a Special Communication to honor M. W. Thomas Arnold Booth for his 60th year in the Craft and his 50th year as a Past Master of the Lodge.

A delicious dinner was served in the Wamsutta Club, which was attended by M. W. David B. Richardson, Grand Master, and many distinguished Masons of the jurisdiction. The Grand Master was accompanied on the suite by five Past Grand Masters and many of the Grand Lodge line officers. Highlighting the evening was the presentation of a 50-year Past Master's certificate by the Grand Master to the distinguished honoree.

M. W. Bro. Booth served as Master of Eureka Lodge in 1934. He was Deputy Grand Master in 1961, and served as Grand Master in 1966-67-68.

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Front: M. W. Whitfield W. Johnson, Past Grand Master; the Grand Master; the honored guest; M. W. Laurence E. Eaton.
Rear: M. W. Herbert H. Jaynes; M. W. Arthur H. Melanson, and M. W. Donald W. Vose.

Many repaired to the dining hall at the conclusion to wish him well and to exchange pleasantries with him and his lady Catherine.

BIOGRAPHY

From Proceedings, Page 2008-70, from the address by David Price, Sr.:

He was a member of Eureka Lodge, being raised in 1924 at New Bedford and was Worshipful Master in 1933, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge from 1966 to 1968.

He served the Grand Commandery of Massachusetts and Rhode Island as Grand Commander in 1956-1957.

He was my father's boss at Revere Copper and Brass. Not only did he sponsor my dad in Eureka Lodge but he raised him as well as installed him Master.

MEMORIAL

FROM PROCEEDINGS, 1986

From Proceedings, Page 1986-72:

Most Worshipful Thomas Arnold Booth was born in New Bedford, on August 14, 1902, the son of John and Nancy (Parkinson) Booth.

Most Worshipful Brother Booth was a 1920 graduate of New Bedford High School and attended night courses at the New Bedford Vocational School as well as Herricks Institute and Swains School of Design. He also took extension courses at Brown University and the University of Massachusetts. He was employed as a production manager for Revere Copper and Brass Inc., and had served that organization for 47 1/2 years prior to his retirement.

He was a member, and former Deacon, of the First Congregational Church of Fairhaven, Massachusetts.

He was a member of Eureka Lodge, being raised in 1924 at New Bedford and was Worshipful Master in 1934; Deputy Grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts in 1961 and served the Craft as Most worshipful Grand Master of the Grand Lodge from 1966 to 1968. He later served as a Director of the Grand Lodge from 1969 to 1986. He was a Grand Representative of the Grand Lodge of England near this Grand Lodge and an honorary member of eight other Masonic lodges as well as the Grand Lodge of Chile. He was the recipient of the Henry price Medal and the 50 Year Veteran's Medal of our Grand Lodge.

In the York Rite, Brother Booth was exalted in Adoniram Chapter, New Bedford, March 2, 1927 and served his chapter as High priest in 1939-1940. He received the order of High Priesthood in 1956 and was the Grand Representative of the Grand Chapter of Oregon near the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Massachusetts. In our Grand Chapter he had served as District Deputy Grand High priest in 1960-1961 and as Deputy Grand High Priest in 1964. He was the recipient of the Paul Revere Medal. He was greeted in New Bedford council of Royal and select Masters on May 7, 1929 and served that council as Illustrious Master in 1946-1947 and served the Grand Council of Massachusetts as Grand Principal Conductor of the Work in 1948. He was the Grand Representative of the Grand Council of South Carolina. He was knighted in Sutton Commandery No. 16, New Bedford on March 5, 1936 and served as Eminent commander in 194o-1941. He served the Grand Commandery of Massachusetts and Rhode Island as Grand Commander in 1956-1957 and was the Grand Representative of the Grand Commandery of Minnesota.

Most worshipful Brother Booth was a member of the Scottish Rite, Valley of Fall River, having joined in 1946 and a member of Massachusetts Consistory as well as holding plural membership in Old Colony Consistory. He received the Thirty-Third Degree of the Scottish Rite in 1957.

Most Worshipful Brother Booth also held membership in many other affiliated Bodies, including the Red Cross of Constantine; Knight York Cross of Honor; Royal Order of Scotland; Societas Rosicruciana; Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests; The Grand Council of Allied Masonic Degrees; Knight Masons, Grand College of Rites; Gifford Chapter No. 105, Order of the Eastern Star, serving as Worthy Patron in 1935; White Shrine of Jerusalem and Palestine Shrine No. 9 of New Bedford as well as Aleppo Temple A.A.O.N.M.S. He also served for many years as a member of the Grand Lodge Board of Relief and more recently as a member of the Board of Managers of our Masonic Home. He was an Honorary Member of the Legion of Honor of the Order of DeMolay.

On September 13, 1930 Brother Booth was united in marriage to Katherine Crawford Fleming at Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Mrs. Booth preceded him in death. One daughter, Nancy Anne Kocher of Lexington, survives as well as two grandchildren, Thomas D. Kocher of Boulder, Colorado and Sara Louise Kocher of Lexington. Also surviving are two sisters, Nellie Zawalski, of New Bedford and Dorothy Howland of Pennsylvania.

Respectfully submitted,
Stanley F. Maxwell
Charles E. Katsanos
Harvey Crook, Jr.
Committee

FROM TROWEL, 1986

From TROWEL, Summer 1986, Page 26:

ThomasBooth1986.jpg

Masons Mourn Passing of M.W. Thomas Arnold Booth

M. W. Thomas Arnold Booth, 83, Grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts, 1966-68, a member of the Board of Directors, Board of Managers of the Masonic Home, and a retired production manager for Revere Copper and Brass, Inc., New Bedford, died March 24 of pneumonia. He had resided at the East Village Nursing Home, Lexington, for a year. Son of the late John and Nancy H. (Parkinson) Booth, he was the widower of Katherine C. (Fleming) Booth.

A native of New Bedford and graduate of New Bedford High School in 1920, he began employment with Revere and continued his education at New Bedford Textile and Vocational Schools, Herrick Institute, and Swain School of Design, and took extension courses at Brown and Massachusetts Universities. He had been a member of the New Bedford Harbor Commission, New Bedford Port Society, and Old Dartmouth Historical Society.

Raised in Eureka Lodge in 1924, Bro. Booth was its Worshipful Master ten years later and had been an active York and Scottish Rite Mason. A Thirty-third Degree Mason, he was Grand Representative of England at the Grand Lodge of MA, held honorary membership in seven Lodges, and was Deputy Grand Master in 1961. He served as Grand Commander of the Grand Commanderv of Knights Templar and Appendant Orders of MA and RI, 1956-57.

Bro. Booth also held membership in the Royal Order of Scotland, The Philalethes Society, Grand College of Rites of the U.S., The Massachusetts and Roger Williams Priories of the DeMolay Legion of Honor (Honorary). He was a Past Patron of Gifford Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, and was an active member of the Republican Party for many years. An Honorary member of the Grand Lodge of Chile, he had been a deacon of the First Congregational Church of Fairhaven.

Bro. Booth leaves a daughter, Nancy Ann (Mrs. David G.)
Kocher of Lexington; two sisters, Mrs. Nellie Zawalski of New
Bedford and Dorothy Howland of New Cumberland, PA, and
two grandchildren.

COUNCIL OF DELIBERATION, 1986

From Proceedings of the Massachusetts Council of Deliberation AASR NMJ 1986, Page 32:

Ill. Thomas Arnold Booth, 33°
Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, August 14, 1902
Died in Lexington, Massachusetts, March 24, 1986

Ill. Thomas Arnold Booth was the son of John and Nancy (Parkinson) Booth. A 1920 graduate of New Bedford High School, he attended night courses at the New Bedford Vocational School as well as Herricks Institute and Swains School of Design. He also took extension courses at Brown University and the University of Massachusetts. He was employed as a production manager for Revere Copper and Brass Inc., and had served that organization for 47½ years prior to his retirement.

He was a member, and former Deacon, of the First Congregational Church of Fairhaven, Massachusetts.

Raised in Eureka Lodge, New Bedford, in 1924, he was Worshipful Master in 1934; Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge in 1961 and served as Most Worshipful Grand Master of the Grand Lodge from 1966 to 1968. He later served as a Director of the Grand Lodge from 1969 to 1986. He was a Grand Representative of the Grand Lodge of England near this Grand Lodge and an honorary member of eight other Masonic Lodges as well as the Grand Lodge of Chile. He was the recipient of the Henry Price Medal and the Veteran's Medal of our Grand Lodge.

In the York Rite, Brother Booth was exalted in Adoniram Chapter, New Bedford, March 2, 1927 and served his Chapter as High Priest in 1939-1940. He received the Order of High Priesthood in 1956 and was the Grand Representative of the Grand Chapter of Oregon near the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Massachusetts. In Grand Chapter he had served as District Deputy Grand High Priest in 1960-1961 and as Deputy Grand High Priest in 1964. He was the recipient of the Paul Revere Medal.

He was greeted in New Bedford Council of Royal and Select Masters on May 7, 1929 and served that Council as Illustrious Master in 1946-194 7 and served the Grand Council of Massachusetts as Grand Principal Con­ductor of the Work in 1948. He was the Grand Representative of the Grand Council of South Carolina.

He was knighted in Sutton Commandery No. 16, New Bedford on March 5, 1936 and served as Eminent Commander in 1940-1941. He served the Grand Commandery of Massachusetts and Rhode Island as Grand Commander in 1956-1957 and was the Grand Representative of the Grand Commandery of Minnesota.

Illustrious Brother Booth was a member of the Scottish Rite, Valley of Fall River, havingjoined in 1946 and a member of Massachusetts Consis­tory as well as holding a plural membership in Old Colony Consistory. He served as Most Wise Master of Saint Andrew Chapter of Rose Croix and was created a Sovereign Grand Inspector General, 33°, Honorary Member of the Supreme Council on September 25, l957.

Illustrious Brother Booth also held membership in many other affiliated Bodies, including the Red Cross of Constantine; Knight York Cross of Honor; Royal Order of Scotland; Societas Rosicruciana; Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests; the Grand Council of Allied Mason Degrees; Knight Masons, Grand College of Rites; Gifford Chapter No. l 05, Order of the Eastern Star, serving as Worthy Patron in 1935; White Shrine of Jerusalem and Palestine Shrine No. 9 of New Bedford as well as Aleppo Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S. He also served for many years as a member of the Grand Lodge Board of Relief and more recently as a member of the Board of Managers of our Masonic Home. He was an Honorary Member of the Legion of Honor of the Order of DeMolay.

On September 13, 1930 Brother Booth was united in marriage to Katherine Crawford Fleming at Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Mrs. Booth preceded him in death.

One daughter, Nancy Anne Kocher of Lexington, survives as well as two grandchildren, Thomas D. Kocher of Boulder, Colorado and Sara Louise Kocher of Lexington. Also surviving are two sisters, Nellie Zawalski, of New Bedford and Dorothy Howland of Pennsylvania.

Funeral services were held at the Wilson Chapel in New Bedford on March 27, 1986 with interment at Rural Cemetery.

SPEECHES

FEAST OF ST. JOHN, DECEMBER 1960

From Proceedings, Page 1960-327:

Most Worshipful Grand Master, Distinguished Guests and Brethren:

I don't suppose you have been wondering what I have been thinking about while 1 was sitting down and eating this delicious dinner, but I will let you in on it. I was thinking how would it ever be possible for a little fellow from the Whaling City of New Bedford to get to Boston to receive this high honor I have received today. I want to tell you sincerely and from the bottom of my heart that 1 appreciate it very much and I will say that in all my years in Masonry 1 have always heard and have preached it a little bit too that the Grand Master can do no wrong. Now he has given me one year to prove it. (Laughter)

During the course of the afternoon while I was out in the corridors talking with a few of the boys I mentioned something about my predecessors and wondered whether 1 would ever be able to match their performances and somebody made the remark "You ought not to ever look back but forward." That is something like that new frontier we have heard so much about. (Laughter) But I have been interested somewhat in Colonial Masonry. I never got a chance to study it very much because I have been busy on other things, but I am quite interested in it, particularly Paul Revere, because my company happens to bear his name, but when I think of Henry Price and Joe Warren and Paul Revere and George Washington — and we all revere those names I am sure because they were great Masons — but then I think what made them great Masons. They were great Masons because they believed in the philosophy of Masonry and practiced it in their everyday life. And they were good men and great patriots, not necessarily because they were Masons, but they were Masons because they were just what they were. So I do look back on those colonial days and perhaps some more recent, and I feel that we can and perhaps should, look back to the old days for the inspiration to carry on and try to even do better if possible. I don't see how it would be possible, in my case, but at least we can try. That is my intention this year, to do the best I possibly can.

I want to thank the Grand Master for the confidence he has seen fit to place in me and to assure him that in every possible way 1 will do my best to carry on the work he has given me. Thank you. (Applause)

AT 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF DARIEN LODGE, JANUARY 1967

From Proceedings, Page 1967-5:

Brethren:

Greetings from the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.

It is a great pleasure and privilege to be with you tonight and participate in the celebration of your Fiftieth Anniversary. When we look back fifty years we might wonder whence came the vision, the foresight, the courage, the determination of the founders of this lodge. There can be no doubt that they were imbued with the spirit of brotherly love, a desire for fraternal communion, a desire to share their Masonry with one another.

For fifty years Darien Lodge has been a haven of fraternal fellowship and brotherly love in this community. It is the dream of the past come true, the crown and climax of the faithful aspiring and consecrated labors of the members of this Lodge in years gone by.

The heritage which they have given us convinces our hearts that there have been more hands engaged in the work of Darien Lodge than the mortal eye can see. The mortar of brotherly love and affection which made them a society of friends and brothers likewise formed the link by which we are in duty bound to them. We are indebted to those who are gone as we are to those who will follow us, to make ourselves men whose lives are built upon the foundation of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth.

Our challenge then is to make our Masonry great. Let it fill our hearts and minds. Let it overflow in our daily contacts at work and play that the world may know that it is the humble practice of its precepts and virtues that give us the comfort of permanence in the midst of change and transition.

Brethren, it is a great challenge. Let the Masonry in Darien Lodge be the symbol of the Temple of Life we build by our thoughts, words and actions every day. May we have the faith of our fathers that Masonry existing through the members of Darien Lodge will live on to an even greater future.

AT THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND, JUNE 1967

From Proceedings, Page 1967-279:

June 27, A.L. 5967.

Most Worshipful Pro Grand Master and Brethren, it is my privilege to bring to you all the warm fraternal greetings of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Masons of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on this wonderful occasion of your 250th anniversary. Two hundred and fifty years is a long time, and when we reflect and realize that here was the beginning of organized Freemasonry in the world, when we reflect upon what this has meant to men of goodwill and to the world all over, I think we can take personal pride in the fact that we are the heirs of those great men, those fore-sighted and far-sighted men, those men whose faith and courage and whose love for their Brethren in Masonry prompted them to join together in a fraternal union that has spread the seeds of brotherly love, relief and truth over the entire world.

True, there have been differences of opinion, which are always present when progress is to be made. True, in Massachusetts there were those who differed in opinion with His Majesty George III. But liberty and freedom of speech and a desire for self-government have always been moulded into the hearts and minds of Englishmen, and these were but Englishmen on far distant shores. Their love of Masonry, their desire for fraternal communion, however, held fast to their Mother Grand Lodge until such time as it seemed fitting to assume the responsibility of guiding their own Masonic destiny in the New World, at the same time holding fast to the ancient Landmarks and Masonic principles as laid down by the Mother Grand Lodge in 1723.

Those of us who have come to England from Massachusetts to represent our Grand Lodge at this Communication are greatly honoured by your invitation.

I think I speak for all visiting Brethren from the other side of the Atlantic when I say that we will never forget these days we are spending with you and your Brethren. The princely hospitality which you have showered upon us and our ladies will always be fresh in our minds, and the memory of those many kindnesses and warm friendly greetings with which you have surrounded us will remain with us as long as we live.

We extend to you our heartiest congratulations and our best wishes for continued success in the future. We thank you for your brilliant leadership and, as the oldest daughter Grand Lodge, we assure you that our hearts will always be with our Mother Grand Lodge, the United Grand Lodge of England. (Applause)

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