Massachusetts Freemasonry
Making Good Men Better
Massachusetts Freemasonry
Making Good Men Better
Ask one to be one
Masonry unites men of all races and backgrounds. Visit massfreemasonry.org to learn more. Freemasonry is the world’s oldest and largest fraternity. It is comprised of adult men (18+) of good character from every country, religion, race, age, income, education, and opinion. Its body of knowledge and system of ethics is based on the belief that each man has a responsibility to improve himself while being devoted to his family, his faith, his country, and his fraternity. Today in North America, the masonic fraternity gives almost $2 million each day to causes that range from operating children’s hospitals, providing treatment for childhood language disorders, treating eye diseases, funding medical research, contributing to local community service, and providing care to Masons and their families at Masonic Homes. The four million Masons worldwide continue to help men and women face the problems of the 21st century by building bridges of brotherhood and instilling in the hearts of men ideals for a better tomorrow.
IN MEMORIAM
Right Worshipful Charles Earl Briggs
1938-2024
Right Worshipful Charles Earl Briggs has entered the Celestial Lodge above after over 60 years of dedicated service to the Craft.
As the Grand Organist for the Grand Lodge of Maine in addition to the music he provided to Lodges in Massachusetts, he will be dearly missed.
For more information on our dear departed Brother, please click the button below.
Our Namesake
Most Worshipful J. Philip Berquist 1926-2001
Brother Berquist was born December 11, 1926 in Cambridge, Massachusetts and died on October 24, 2001 at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. His passing is a great loss to all Freemasonry, his family, and the general community. He was the son of John Henry and Arabelle (Pinkham) Berquist. A life long resident of Auburndale, he attended the Newton public schools and graduated from Coburn Classical Institute n 1944, received - a Bachelor of Arts degree at Colby College 1949, and a Master's degree in Education from Tufts University. He was a teacher of English at Newton High School and at Bridgeton Academy in North Bridgeton, Maine. He served as Assistant Dean and subsequently Dean of the Annual Summer School at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. During World War II and the Korean War, he served in the United States Navy as a Medic attached to the Marine Corps, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. In 1954 he became Assistant City Clerk of Newton, serving in this capacity for six years and then for thirteen years as a member of the Board of Assessors. In 1973 he became Chairman of the Board of Assessors in the City of Waltham, retiring in 1981. He was President of both the Middlesex County Assessors' Association and the Massachusetts Assessors' Association, a former Secretary of the Northeastern Regional Assessors' Association of the United States and Canada. He lectured extensively in these areas on assessing and appraising real and personal property. In addition to being an independent fee appraiser, he wrote many articles on these subjects. He also served as the Massachusetts representative to the International Association of Assessing Officers. Brother Berquist was a former communicant and Vestryman of St. John' s Episcopal Church in Newtonville and later a Vestryman and Treasurer of St. Mary's Parish in Newton Lower Falls. He was a Licensed Lay Eucharistic Minister of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. He served on the Board of the Newton Tuberculosis and Health Association, the Newton Family Service Bureau, the Advisory Board of the Greater Boston Salvation Army, the Board of Governors of the Gore Place Society and was Municipal Chairman of the Greater Boston United Fund. He was a member of the Task Force for the Redevelopment of the Downtown Boston Neighborhood Chairman of the Municipal Red Cross Blood Donor Program as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Auburndale Co-operative Bank and the Village Capital Corporation. On June 18, 1949, at Newton, Massachusetts, he married Nancie R. Jewett, who predeceased him in September 1999. In January 2001, he was united in marriage to Barbara Carter who survives along with his two sons, J. Peter and David C. Berquist, both members of the Craft, and three grandchildren. Brother Berquist had a long and distinguished career in Freemasonry.
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