In Cherished Memory

Perry Allen Lester 1928~2006

The Grand Lodge mourns the death of Past Grand Master and Past Trustee of the Grand Lodge, F.A.A.M., of the District of Columbia, Perry Allen Lester, on Sunday, September 24, 2006. Last Masonic rites were conducted at the Hines-Rinaldi Funeral Home in Silver Spring, Maryland, on Thursday evening, September 28, 2006, when MWB Mansour Hatefi delivered the memorial oration.

A religious service for Brother Lester was conducted the following day, on September 29, 2006, at the Christ Episcopal Church in Kensington, Maryland. Immediately after the conclusion of the religious service, a procession of family and friends accompanied the body to the Parklawn Memorial Cemetery in Rockville, Maryland, for internment. Brother Lester is survived by his wife of 50 years, Geneva; a son, Scott; daughters Jean Ann Krueger (David) and Susan E. King (William); grandchildren Christopher, Kaitlyn, and Erik Krueger, Collin and Nathan Lester, and Emily, Madeleine, and Corbin King; and three brothers, Guy M., Maurice C., and Harry K. Lester. Brother Lester was one of the eight children born to John and Bessie Lester in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. He was educated in the public schools of that community, graduating from high school in January of 1946. Thereupon he became a member of Army Air Corps, from which he was honorably discharged in 1947. On his return to civilian life Brother Lester was employed by Acme Supermarkets in his home town, where he served as produce manager. His aptitude for business was quickly recognized, however, and it was not long before he was promoted to Assistant Store Manager in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and then Store Manager in Ridgeway, Indiana. By 1949 he decided to further his education by enrolling in Boyds Business School in Washington, D.C. Following completion of his courses at Boyds, he was hired as office manager of the William W. Kendricks Company, where he spent the rest of his working life. Early on he also completed courses at the Benjamin Franklin University, as he rose from his initial position to become Secretary-Treasurer and then General Manager and Vice President of the company. He retired from that position in 2003. Brother Lester was devoted to his family, his church, his business, and to the Masonic fraternity, which he served faithfully from the time of his initiation in Harmony Lodge No. 17 in 1953 until his death. Up until the time of his death, in fact, he always looked forward to receiving visiting brethren in his home, as they called just to pay their respects to an ailing brother. Three years after he became a Master Mason, Brother Lester was elected Junior Deacon of his lodge, and in that same year, he received the Grand Lodge Certificate of Proficiency, which was presented to him on his 31 st birthday, on October 14, 1959. He served as Master of Harmony Lodge in 1963, in which year he also served as treasurer of the Master’s Association.

During the period 1964-1968 Brother Lester assisted the ailing lodge secretary, Brother Johnston R. Zimmerman. In December of 1968 he was elected secretary of the lodge in his own right and he served continuously in that position until 1977, when because of increasing responsibilities in the Grand Lodge, he stepped down temporarily. Following his service as Grand Master he resumed his secretarial duties, serving in that capacity until his retirement at the annual communication of his lodge in the year 2000. Brother Lester was appointed Grand Pursuivant of the Grand Lodge in 1971 and in 1972 he was elected Junior Grand Steward. He advanced through all of the elected progressive offices of the Grand Lodge until he was elected, on December 27, 1979, Grand Master for the Masonic year of 1980. Upon his installation as Grand Master, Brother Lester announced his theme for the year would be one that proclaimed, “ Fellowship is the Crown of the Craft.” In working to this theme, he said, “it is my hope to put first things first” in the Craft. Brother Lester’s year as Grand Master was very eventful for him and beneficial for the Craft as a whole. During the year he was afforded the privilege of welcoming the Conference of Grand Masters to its annual meeting in the Shoreham Hotel. At that conference Brother Lester delivered one of the discussion papers, a work in which he presented a scholarly analysis of the practice of making a Mason at sight, and he was also one of a small group of Grand Masters selected to be received by President Jimmy Carter in the White House. The Masonic labors of Brother Lester were not confined solely to his lodge and the Grand Lodge, for he was an active mem-

ber of all bodies of both the Scottish and York Rites, attaining the rank of 33º Honorary in the former. He was also a member of Almas Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S., the Royal Order of Scotland, the Red Cross of Constantine, the Royal Order of Jesters, the Tall Cedars of Lebanon, the York Rite College of Maryland, the National Sojourners, and a number of local Masonic clubs or service organizations. It is obvious that Perry Allen Lester always endeavored, in everything that he did, to achieve the greatest possible degree of perfection. He was, without doubt, a very precious jewel in the figurative Crown of the Craftfor which he searched, not only in 1980, but throughout his Masonic career. Unquestionably, because of him, the position of Masonry in the District of Columbia has been enhanced. ■

John Christopher Schleter 1927~2006

Most Worshipful Brother John Christopher Schleter was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on December 29, 1927. He received his elementary and secondary education in the public schools of the District of Columbia and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1949 at Perdue University, majoring in physics and mathematics. At Perdue he was enrolled in the R.O.T.C. program and he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army Reserve, in February 1949. During his working career he completed courses of study at the University of Maryland and the U.S. National Bureau of Standards Graduate School. Upon graduation from Purdue University, he accepted employment as a physicist at the U.S. National Bureau of Standards. In 1969 he was awarded the U.S. Department of Commerce Silver Medal for Meritorious Federal Service in recognition of the application of high-speed digital computers. In 1971 he participated in a study of the application of video recording in the U.S. court system and, at the request of the Assistant Secretary of Commerce, in a study of technology transfer from the federal to the private sector. He is listed in the 9th and 11th Editions of American Men of Science and in the 13th Edition of Who's Who in the East. Most Worshipful Brother Schleter became a Mason in Potomac Lodge No. 5, F.A.A.M., District of Columbia, where he was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason on January 16, 1950. He served as its Worshipful Master in 1969, and for many years was a Trustee of the Potomac Lodge Perpetual Membership Fund. He was exalted as a Royal Arch Mason in Wm. R. Singleton Chapter No. 14 in 1967, advanced to a Royal and Select Master in Triangle Council No. 3 in 1967, and knighted a Knight Templar in Washington Commandery No. 1 in 1970. He received the Scottish Rite degrees in 1950 and subsequently served as the presiding officer of the Consistory and of Mithras Lodge of Perfection. From 1950 to 1980 he was a member of the Scottish Rite Stage Crew, serving from 1972 to 1980 as Director. He was invested with the rank and decoration of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour in 1957 and coroneted an Inspector General Honorary, 33º, by the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction in 1969. He was a member of the Past Masters Association, F.A.A.M. of the District of Columbia and served as Secretary in 1975. He was admitted a Noble of the Mystic Shrine in Almas Temple in 1950 and was a life member of that organization. He was also a member and Past Recorder of the Red Cross of Constantine. He was Worshipful Master of Pythagoras Lodge of Research in 1974 and was a member of the Correspondence Circle of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076, London, England. He was the Provincial Senior Grand Warden of the Royal Order of Scotland and served for many years as a member of the degree team of that organization. In the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, Brother Schleter was commissioned as Grand Representative of the Grand Lodge of Indiana near this Grand Lodge. He was appointed Grand Marshal in 1972 and was elected Junior Grand Steward in 1974. He progressed annually through each Grand Station until his election as Most Worshipful Grand Master on December 27, 1980. On December 28, 1981, he was elected Grand Secretary and served in that office through autumn in 1986. Following the completion of his term as Grand Secretary, Brother Schleter and his wife, Shirley, moved to their retirement home in Kill Devil Hills in North Carolina. There they became active in the Outer Banks Presbyterian Church, where funeral services will take place on Saturday, December 2, at 1:00 p.m. Brother Schleter’s wife Shirley, whom he married on March 24, 1951, preceded him in death. He is survived by their son, James Christopher. ■