MAGLJDiele

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JOE ANGELO DIELE 1918-2005

JoeDiele.jpg

District Grand Master, China, 1980-2002

Necrology

BIOGRAPHY

From TROWEL, June 1984, Page 15:

Representing the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts at the farther-most outpost from Boston is R.W. Joe A. Diele of Tokyo, Japan. His immediate responsibility is Sinim Lodge, once of Shanghai but relocated to Tokyo in 1953. Ancient Landmark and Shanghai Lodges of Shanghai and International Lodge at Peking have been in recess since the People's Republic of China changed its form of government.

Brother Diele is a native of Colorado, born at Primero in 1918, and educated in Morley and Trinidad, CO. While a member of the U.S. Air Force he attended the Japanese language school of the State Department in Arlington, VA; Naganuma Language School, Tokyo, and the University of Maryland. He has held positions of varying responsibility, particularly with assignments at the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the Criminal Investigative Division of the U. S. Army.

He was assistant manager of a large pearl export firm in Kobe, Japan, from 1964 to 1966, later serving as Vice President of the Capehart Corp., Tokyo branch. He is no General Manager of the Design Studio in Tokyo. During World War II he flew fifty-one combat missions in the European Theater, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters.

Brother Diele received his Masonic light in Lodge Hiogo and Osaka No. 498, Kobe, Japan, under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, A. F. & A. M. He affiliated with Sinim Lodge in 1967, serving as Worshipful Master in 1972 and 1973. He is a member of the Scottish Rite Bodies of Tokyo under the Supreme Council, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. He is the Deputy for Scottish Rite in Japan and Korea.

Coroneted an Honorary Sovereign Grand Inspector General Thirty-Third Degree in 1975, he is now Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Tokyo Masonic Association. He is an Honorary District Grand Marshal, Hong Kong District, Grand Lodge of Scotland; he also holds Honorary Membership in the Grand Lodge of Japan, F. and A. M., and is a member of the Royal Order of Scotland.

Presently residing at 38-22, Ebisu 3-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan 150, R. W. Diele still calls Trinidad, CO, his home town. Three sisters and other close relatives live there.

When M. W. J. Philip Berquist visited Sinim Lodge and the Grand Lodge of Japan in March, 1983, he honored Brother Diele with the presentation of the Joseph Warren Medal, an honor he humbly accepted and which he greatly treasures.

From TROWEL, Summer 1989, Page 2:

R. W. Joe A. Diele represents the Massachusetts Grand Lodge of Masons in the Orient where he has spent his life since the close of World War II. His immediate responsibility is Sinim Lodge of Tokyo, once of Shanghai, China, but has been located in the best known city in the Land of the Rising Sun since 1953. Ancient Landmark and Shanghai Lodges of Shanghai, and International Lodge of Beijing, once known as Peking, have been in recess since the Communist government assumed power. Whether the student protests in Bejing's Tiananmen Square will bear fruit in the immediate future, only time will tell. Equally important is the future of Freemasonry in Hong Kong when Communist China takes control in 1998.

Bro. Diele, a native of Colorado, was born in Primero 71 years ago. His early education in his home state was augmented when he attended the Japanese language school of the U.S. State Department in Arlington, VA while he was in the U.S. Air Force during World War II. He gained advance learning at the U of Maryland and the Naganuma Language School in Tokyo. He had held important assignments in the Air Force of Special Investigations and the Criminal Investigative Division of the U.S. Army.

From 1964 to 1966 Bro. Diele was the assistant manager of a large pearl export firm in Kobe, Japan, later V.P. of the Capehart Corporation's Tokyo branch. He was the General Manager of the Design Studio in Tokyo. After flying 51 combat missions in the European Theater during W.W.II, earning him the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters, it is natural to assume Bro. Diele was being prepared for the invasion of 
Japan. For him and a few million other men and women, life took a more positive turn in August, 1945. Little did!
know then that his life would be committed to the Orient.

Masonic light came into his life in Lodge Hiogoa Osaka No. 498 in Kobe, Japan, under the jurisdiction^ the Grand Lodge of Scotland, A.F. and A.M. He affiliated with Sinim Lodge in 1967. He has served that Lodge! its Worshipful Master in 1972-73 and 1986-87. He is a member of the Scottish Rite Bodies of Tokyo under the Supreme Council, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. He has been the Deputy for Scottish Rite in I Japan and Korea.

Coroneted an Honorary Sovereign Grand Inspector General Thirty-third Degree in 1975, Bro. Diele is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Tokyo Masonic Association, and Honorary District Grand Marshal of Hong Kong District for the Grand Lodge of Scotland. He holds Honorary Membership in the Grand Lodge of Japan F. and A.M., and is a member of the Royal Order! Scotland. Although living in Tokyo, he calls Trinidad, Colorado his home town where three sisters and other of his relatives reside.

Bro. Diele is the proud wearer of the Joseph Warren I Distinguished Service Medal that was given him in 19| when M.W. J. Philip Berquist visited Sinim Lodge dm the 250th anniversary of our Grand Lodge. Through cooperation, TROWEL has been able to enlighten its readers about Sinim Lodge and Freemasonry in the Land of the Rising Sun.


Distinguished Brothers