Orient News

Please visit the Supreme Council’s website by clicking here for more information on the 2012 Scottish Rite Leadership Conferences. St. Louis will be hosting one of the sessions. We encourage all Scottish Rite Masons in the area to attend!

Ill. Bro. Earl E. Walker, 33°, Grand Cross
2/12/1920 – 8/26/2011

Ill. Bro. Earl E. Walker, our friend and brother, passed away Friday evening on August 26, 2011. He died peacefully while in the presence of two of his daughters, Mary and Nance, son in law, Alan, and his favorite dog, Dana. Brother Earl’s family held a private funeral on 8/29/11. Brother Earl is survived by his bride of 68 years, Myrtle Walker, and was a father, grandfather, great-grandfather, as well as a friend and brother to many.

The Walker Family will be hosting a celebration of Earl’s life on Sunday, September 18th at 2:00 PM at the Theatre at Kirkwood High School (801 W. Essex, Kirkwood, MO 63122). All are invited to wear green – a trademark favorite color of Earl’s.

Per Mr. Walker’s Family, memorial contributions requested for Mr. Walker are as follows:

Earl E. Walker Scholarship:

Ranken Technical College, 4431 Finney Ave., St. Louis, Missouri 63113; www.ranken.edu

Walker Scottish Rite Clinic for Childhood Language Disorders:

3632 Olive St., St. Louis, Missouri 63108; www.srclinic.org

Earl Ernest Walker attended Ranken Technical College in St Louis and went on to work for Curtis Wright Aircraft Co., which later became McDonnell Aircraft Company. Earl and his wife Myrtle founded Carr Lane Manufacturing in 1952 in their garage in Kirkwood.  Through long hours and tireless work, Earl and Myrtle built the fledgling operation into a global, multi-million dollar company providing parts to the automotive, appliance, furniture and aerospace industries as well as all four branches of the military.

In addition to their business, the Walkers have been involved in their local church, community and charities.  They are members of the Trinity Lutheran Church where Earl served on the Church Council and the original site and building committee.  Earl served on the St. Louis Board of Lutheran Churches and helped the Triumph Church.  He was an active member of the Kirkwood Des Peres Area Chamber of Commerce, the YMCA, the Girl Scouts with Myrtle and sat on numerous boards, including Commerce Bancshares, Inc., Ranken Technical College, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Educational Fund, Maryville University and the Walker Scottish Rite Clinic for Childhood Language Disorders.

Both Earl and Myrtle are philanthropists to the core and especially focus on initiatives for children.  They sponsored scholarships at both Kirkwood and Maplewood-Richmond Heights High Schools.  Earl and Myrtle funded an endowed professorship in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Washington University and an endowed scholarship at University of Texas at Austin and the Myrtle E. Walker Scholarship Fund at the School of Art at Washington University.  Both Earl and Myrtle have been steadfast supporters of St. Joseph Hospital in Kirkwood and now the new St. Clare Health Center in Fenton.

Earl and Myrtle had a particular affinity for Kirkwood High’s Science Department as they met in Biology Class at Kirkwood High School before marrying in 1942.  In 2008, the Walkers were the key underwriters for the new Kirkwood High School Science Building with state of the art equipment to help Kirkwood’s students.  The Walkers have also been instrumental in many other additions and improvements on the Kirkwood High School Campus.

Earl was also a member of the Kirkwood Masonic Lodge #484, an Honorary Member of DeMolay International, and was bestowed the Grand Cross of the Scottish Rite, the highest honor of Scottish Rite Freemasonry.  Through the tireless efforts of Earl, Myrtle, Les Denney and many Scottish Rite Brothers, the Walker Scottish Rite Clinic for Childhood Language Disorders was founded in 1988, and has served over 15,000 St. Louis area children to date with speech and language disorders.

In 2010, Earl and Myrtle made a gift to Maryville University to help underwrite a new Health Professions building, Walker Hall.  Upon completion of this building the Walker Scottish Rite Clinic will expand into Walker Hall on the University Campus with an anticipated opening in 2013.  The Walker Scottish Rite Clinic currently serves children in midtown St. Louis at the Scottish Rite Cathedral, at two Head Start locations in St. Louis City, and at the outreach sites in Crystal City, Elsberry, and Union, MO.  In addition, the University will add a graduate curriculum for Speech Language Pathology as part of the Clinic partnership.

Walker Scottish Rite Clinic Vice Chairman, Edward Kellogg, remembers his friend Earl as “an icon that has passed but a legacy that will live on.”   Ed also reflected that Earl was the eternal gentleman and friend and would often look you in the eye; shake your hand and say, “thank you for being my friend.”  Earl was a man full of humility and concern for others.

Robert Cockerham, Sovereign Grand Inspector General of the Scottish Rite of Missouri reflected that Earl was:  “Always kind, always humble, always a true friend!   So too, is Earl’s loving and beautiful wife, Myrtle.  As most gracious and giving individuals, Earl and Myrtle always enjoy helping others, especially the youth – the leaders of tomorrow – whom they know are so important to our society.  Earl and Myrtle’s accomplishments are legion and their legacies pure and good for all mankind.  They love the Scottish Rite and the Order of DeMolay – both of which help children and our communities in extraordinary ways.  With God’s grace upon Earl, and with Myrtle’s continued guidance and support, we must remember to do better each and every day to carry out their benevolence and great examples of faith, hope and charity.”

Ronald Seale, the Sovereign Grand Commander of Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite reflected that, “Earl Walker was a great friend and strong supporter of our Scottish philanthropies.  A recipient of the Grand Cross, he was the kind of friend that stands by you when you need somebody to be there.  What is it that we remember when we think of Earl? I think everyone who knows him very well would agree with me on this.  He was a giving person who shared his success by helping others through scholarships, Rite Care and many other causes.  Earl gave much more than he ever received.”

While Earl was generous with both time and money, he prided himself on his relationships with people of all walks of life.  He firmly believed that being on a board or committee meant more than just having your name there, but doing the work as well.

Both together and independently, Earl and his wife Myrtle are that special breed of people that live their life to the fullest, work hard, give often and nurture lifelong friendships and take care of others in need.

Announcing a new Walker Scottish Rite Clinic “fun”raising event: Pull for Kids Trapshoot – Saturday, September 24, 2011 at Gateway Gun Club in Bridgeton, MO. All skill levels welcome! $75 per shooter. Additional fun shoot competitions for prizes & fun. Must be 18 or older to participate. View the following link for more information.   Click here for additional information.

Brethren,

First, I want to apologize for not keeping you more updated than I have, it’s been a little busy around here. We’re actually holding up pretty well and I can make some reports of what your Valley is accomplishing. We started out on our first day delivering about 300-400 meals. This number has grown daily through Memorial Day. The previous two to three days before Memorial Day we delivered approximately 2,000 meals each day. On Memorial Day we delivered about 2,500 meals. Tuesday, we were more cautious and decided to base our meal count on how much we could get delivered for breakfast. It seemed that some delivery teams were having more difficulty finding hungry people. Total count for Tuesday was nearly 1,000 meals. I understand from our Brothers in law enforcement that many of the food providers have closed up their shop and left town. This first phase has more to do with salvaging anything left from peoples’ homes and most folks are pretty much done gathering their belongings. We believe the tornado recovery is moving into a new phase and clean-up will become much more important, especially on the weekends. We’ll close food preparation today through Friday, re-open for the weekend, and see if there is a need. In the meantime, if you’d like to assist in clean up efforts, please check the website www.rebuildjoplin.org to register your Team with the City or call 211 to register with the United Way .

Our Brethren in the path of this violent storm has become our next concern and toward that end, we are trying to match addresses with a map of the damage path. We are beginning the task of contacting these Brethren and assessing what help they may need. We plan on sending teams into the field to try contacting them tomorrow. We have determined that there are at least 40-50 Scottish Rite Brethren in the damage area. I’ve also asked the Grand Chapter of the Eastern Star of Missouri to help us find any Ladies that have been affected. Please contact us if you have a need due to tornado damage.

The City has begun major debris removal today. Our tent with household supplies will remain open, but we plan to begin taking our supplies to places where it may be needed. We’re not getting enough traffic here to justify keeping a tent erected. We will also be using our Finance Committee to begin forming ways we can use the cash donations we have been receiving to help the community, especially our Brothers who have lost everything.

I wish I could put into words the devastation I have seen after the tornado passed through our city. And I wish I could put into words the gratitude we have seen from just a simple hot meal delivered into the affected areas. Finally, I wish I could express our gratitude to the many Brothers all across our country that have come to our aid. Their help, brotherly love, and prayers have been and continue to sustain us through this hardship, and I can’t thank them enough.

As of this time, and although I can’t speak definitively on the need, we’re going to be ok. If you have items to donate, please hold onto them as our tent is full. We may need them a little bit further down the road. And I would ask you all to be patient with us as we figure out how to proceed. After all, this is the first time many of us have faced this kind of disaster. The recovery process will be a long one, I am sure. But I am also sure that we will continue to be able to count on our Brothers for their continued prayers. Thank you all for your support and may God continue to bless our Fraternity!

Fraternally,
Richard A. Lowrey, 33°
Executive Secretary
Valley of Joplin
Scottish Rite
jpnsr@sbcglobal.net

Bro. Chris Hodapp mentioned the Joplin SR facebook page at http://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2011/05/joplin-missouri-update.html today.

Their facebook page can be accessed directly at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Scottish-Rite-Valley-of-Joplin/102939309205?sk=wall and will provide the visitor with up-to-date information regarding relief efforts.