In Memoriam

Illustrious Walter Webber, Sovereign Grand Commander of the Northern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite, passed away last Saturday evening. As many brothers know, he had appeared to be doing well in his battle against cancer. However, early this week, his health took a dramatic turn for the worse, and his time on earth has now come to a close. We will greatly miss this great man, who was a magnificent exemplar of what a Mason should be.
 
John William McNaughton who served as Grand Lieutenant Commander, automatically took over the reins of power upon the demise of Bro Webber. As for a successor, there is a nominations committee that now is charged with accepting letters of application, interviewing, preparing a vote and then bringing the nominations before the Active Membership of the Supreme Council.

DeMolay, Mason, Scottish Rite leader
A memorial service was held on April 30 for Walter E Webber, a national leader of the Masonic fraternity. who passed away on April 22 after an extended illness at the age of 62. The service took place at the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Massachusetts.

Webber had settled in Yarmouth ME in 1970 and moved to Lexington MA in 2003 to become the Sovereign Grand Commander of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Northern Jurisdiction of the United States. He is only the 13th person to hold that position since 1867.

In his capacity as commander of the Scottish Rite Masons, he was also president of the National Heritage Museum, sponsored by the Scottish Rite, and president of the 32nd Degree Masonic Learning Centers for Children, Inc., which provides one-on-one tutoring for children with dyslexia at 53 centers throughout the Northeastern and Midwestern states.

As a practicing attorney in Portland, he first joined Jensen & Baird in 1969 and eventually served as the first president of the law firm of Jensen Baird Gardner & Henry. He remained “of counsel” until the time of his passing. He was a member of the Cumberland County, Maine State, and American Bar Associations, and was, by invitation, a member of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys, the American College of Real Estate Attorneys, and was regularly listed in The Best Lawyers in America. As an attorney he had a dramatic impact on the field of commercial real estate, with projects such as the Maine Mall, South Portland Crossing, the Augusta Mall, the rehabilitation of the Eastland Hotel and the conversion of Congress Square Hotel into elderly housing, many condominium projects, and other commercial projects ranging from Ellsworth to Kittery.

He was a beloved husband of Leslie M (MacDougall) Webber for 41 years, father to David S Webber of Harvard MA, Seth E Webber of Glendale CA, and Elizabeth A (Webber) Crampsey of Newton MA, proud grandfather of Ethan J and Allison G Webber, and father-in-law of Sheila Simsarian Webber and Ross Crampsey.

Walter lived a full life and will be remembered for his love of family, country and Freemasonry. He was actively involved in church, legal, business, community, civic and fraternal matters.

Walter was active in church affairs, serving as a trustee of the Maine Conference of the United Church of Christ for over 20 years. For the First Parish Church in Yarmouth, he had various leadership positions from moderator to chair of the board of trustees, building fund and long-serving president of the ministerial fund.

He graduated from Marietta College in 1965 and was awarded the prestigious W Bay Irvine Award. He later served as a trustee, becoming vice-chairman of the board of trustees. He earned a JD degree from Boston University School of Law in 1969. He was a trustee of the Osteopathic Hospital of Maine and served in several capacities during a 15-year period, becoming chairman of the board of trustees, during which time the hospital became Brighton Medical Center and opened its staff to non-osteopathic physicians.

In business, he was a long-serving director of York Mutual Insurance Company, becoming chairman of its board of directors. During that period, York had an unprecedented period of growth and eventually merged with Commercial Union Insurance Company, where he continued on the board of directors until the company was sold.

In September 2003, he was elected to the position of Sovereign Grand Commander of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction. Previously he had served as the Scottish Rite Deputy for Maine, was instrumental in establishing Portland’s 32nd Degree Masonic Learning Center for Children. He was a Past Master of Casco Masonic Lodge No. 36 in Yarmouth, and a member of the York Rite in Portland and St. Bernard Commandery in Boston. He served as a District Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Maine and chaired the Grand Lodge Standing Committees of Finance and Jurisprudence.
In 2003 he was recognized by the Grand Lodge of Maine with the presentation of the Josiah Drummond medal. (Drummond was Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite Supreme Council in 1867.)
He was a past presiding officer of Yates Lodge of Perfection and Maine Consistory for the Portland Scottish Rite Valley. He was also a member of Kora Shrine Center.

He became a 33rd degree Mason in 1987 and was elected to the board of directors of the Scottish Rite Supreme Council in 1994. In late March, he was invested with the DeMolay Legion of Honor at a ceremony in Rhode Island, where he had been active as a teenager in the youth organization.