Difference between revisions of "MAGCLRichards"

Latest revision as of 18:29, 26 October 2021

LINCOLN K. RICHARDS 1934-2021

• Grand High Priest 2009-2011

• Necrology

From Grand Chapter Annual Session, 10/21/2021, prepared by Rev. Bro. Michael Bickford:

Lincoln Kempton Richards (3/11/34 – 6/15/21), beloved husband of 60 years to Gerda Weiland Richards and father to Rosemarie Richards Tagliamonte and her husband Jeffrey, Lincoln Gerhard Richards and his wife Robin, and Roxane Richards Huang and her husband Austin. Lincoln also had six grandchildren and one great-grandson.

Lincoln graduated from Park College (BA), Babson College (MBA), Suffolk University Law School (JD), and Boston University Law School (LLM). He passed the Massachusetts Bar and was admitted to practice before the US Supreme Court.

Lincoln was a veteran of the US Army and was stationed in Europe (where he met Gerda). He then worked for the Arklay Richards Company for five decades, succeeding his father, who started the company in 1938, as its President. He also was involved in the Babson College Coaching for Leadership Program.

Lincoln’s greatest joy was in spending time with his family. They traveled and shared a number of hobbies together. This included Bee Keeping and Lincoln served as President and then secretary for a statewide Bee Keeper’s association. It also included breeding and racing pigeons. He also served in various leadership positions in a local bird racing club.

As his kids grew, his interests shifted to other activities. Lincoln was raised to the Degree of Master Mason on February 2, 1988, when he was 53 years old. He was Worshipful Master of Wellesley Lodge 1991-1993, and again for several years before its merger with Dalhousie Lodge. He served as Junior Grand Deacon in 1995, and DDGM of the Waltham 5th Masonic District, 2001-2002.

He joined Triad Royal Arch Chapter in Newton in 1989. He served as High Priest 10 different times between 1994 and 2011. He served as Illustrious Master of Cryptic Council 6 times between 1996 and 2012. Statewide, he is best known for serving as the Grand High Priest 2009-2011. He was also a member of a number of invitational York Rite bodies, including the Knights of the York Cross of Honor and Bay State Conclave of the Red Cross of Constantine.

Lincoln was also a member of Aleppo Temple of the Shriners and was “Opee The Clown” for a number of years.

Lincoln’s Masonic involvement continued until his multi-year struggle with a pulmonary illness prevented him from continuing.

For those who did not know him well, he looked like a man for whom Masonry was his life. For those who did know him well, his prodigious Masonic career was just part of a much bigger story. At the center of this story was his family and their love for one another.

I was given the honor of performing a graveside service for him after he died. Only immediate family attended and they spent time sharing stories of family trips, their shared hobbies, pranks Lincoln played on people, and about the influence he had in shaping their lives. It was the perfect tribute for what mattered to him. If all of the people he impacted at Babson College, the Bee Keeping Society, the Pigeon Racing Society, the Masons, and other groups he was a part of had attended, then the centrality of family would have been lost.

Lincoln Kempton Richards was a man of integrity, drive, humor, and curiosity. His mark on our great Fraternity will last for many years to come. May he Rest in Peace and Rise in Glory.

Grand High Priests