Dear Dedicated Members for Change,
A few days ago we lost one of the best of us. A heart attack claimed the life of Don Lang, Past Grand Master of California from 2002-03, Grand Representative of California to Sovereign Grand Lodge from 2004-12, and a long-time leader and member of Cupertino Lodge #70. Don lived the values of Odd Fellowship: He was a friend to all; he displayed the positive attributes of love for his fellow man; and he was an honest and truthful person. I never heard him say a negative word about any Odd Fellow.
Below is a DMC article by PGM Rick Boyles, who knew Don well.
F - L - T
Dave Rosenberg, PGM
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A Model Odd Fellow
Lately, we lost an exemplary Odd Fellow. Past Grand Master Don Lang. Don was always a kind and outgoing gentleman that I never heard say a cross word to anyone. I worked with Don on several committees, and the Grand Lodge Board of Directors along with attending many occasions with him. If he encountered a question or a concern, he devoted all his energy to solving the problem, not trying to punish anyone.
Too often we look at punishing fellow members for mistakes we may have made, or poor decisions, but Don Lang looked at things such as this as a challenge to solve, rather than losing a member because of harsh words or punishments. We need to learn from Don’s example and see that the order is made up of human beings, all too fallible, and often too fragile to bear the brunt of anger or derision.
The committees I sat on with Don for years were the Grand Lodge Board of Directors, Assignments, ByLaws, and attended many audits with him. While occasionally things seemed dire at first look, Don often put members at ease by assuring them that there was always a solution. Most members join our order to experience friendship, exchange words and looks that telegraph love, and know each other’s truth, and Don always did his best to recognize this and reciprocate. We could all learn from this.
In the past decade or two we have lost some exemplary members, those who rarely exchanged a cross word or action. Fine members such as Robert Gennaria, Gerald Poarch, Nancy Johnson, John Morgan, Glenn Lindsey, Don Smith and certainly others that many of us have known and admired. No doubt everyone has someone else they may have admired similarly. It’s not their titles that made them exemplary; it was their attitudes that kept them in our hearts and memories.
Sometimes the easiest thing to say or do is to hurl an insult or lambast a fellow member. It’s not as easy to construct a conversation that would bolster one’s ego or ease a conscience. We are all on this planet for a short time, and if we can learn anything from past companions like Don is to come to realize that we want the goodness of our order to continue, no matter the current issues or political climate. If we miss our old friends, it’s because deep down, we perhaps feel that we did not spend enough time with them, and regret that most.
The best of us sees the best in others as well. We all chose this fraternal path because of something within us that told us that we need congeniality. Members like Don never let us down, smiling when we needed a smile, sympathizing with whatever we felt and not deriding us when we asked a question that they could harvest from their vast knowledge of the order. That, of course, is the other thing we miss with Don, and others, passing, is their grasp on the meaning of Odd Fellowship. What we see from all these fine members is that the order truly is what we make of it, and not simply from code books, or recitations.
Let’s all try to emulate them through our hearts and actions.
In Friendship, Love, and Truth, Rick Boyles
