Eulogy to  RW Bro Richard John Anderson
Past Prov Grand Master, Past Prov Grand Superintendent

Delivered by V.W. Bro W.H.Fisher PGSwdB PDepProvGM at Provincial/Memorial Service at Selby Abbey on 11th September 2022

May I thank you, R.W. Provincial Grand Master and M.E. Excellent Grand Superintendent, for your kind introduction and words and for so readily agreeing to the holding of the memorial service of R.W. Bro Richard John Anderson at this service today. I know that it means a great deal to Sue and family and, indeed, to us all. I know that Sue also believes that Richard would have been very ” chuffed”. It is, in fact, particularly fitting that Richard’s memorial service be held in this magnificent building because Sue has reminded me that this was the venue for Richard’s first Provincial Church Service in 2004 when Sue’s and Richard’s eldest grandson William, then thirteen, read the first lesson. Like all of us, William is somewhat older now.

I do believe that repeated references to R.W. Provincial Grand Master and M.E. Grand Superintendent will soon become a little wearying for your ears – and, also, my tongue - so I shall largely refer from now on to the Craft titles. I assure you all that that reflects no slight on the Chapter which was a very important part of Richard’s life and is, too, a significant part of many of our lives.

We are here to celebrate the masonic life of R.W Bro Richard John Anderson and what a celebration that should be because Richard was an inspiration to so many of us here today and, it is no exaggeration to say, to several thousand freemasons who cannot be here today.

I do not wish to present you with a simple diary of Richard’s achievements in freemasonry, although some dates will be necessary, because that would be boring and, despite being a Chartered Accountant by profession, that would not be in Richard’s style. Before you think that I am being disrespectful to Chartered Accountants let me explain to you that the remark I have just made comes from Richard himself; on his investiture as R.W Provincial Grand Master on 8th February 2003 he said:

“So where are we going? I do not have some earth-shattering new philosophy. I do not think that I could ever be described as academic. You will, many of you, be aware that I am an Accountant. Was it John Cleese or Michael Palin who described all accountants as boring? If I do nothing else in my term of office but dispel that myth in respect of this Accountant I will have had some measure of success.”

I think that is called “leading with the chin”. Indeed, over the years many toasts in favour of Richard picked up on those remarks and sought to make fun of him for his profession. Suffice it to say that Richard knew how to deal with it and we know that he did, indeed, dispel the myth.

Richard was the very opposite of boring. He became known for pulling rabbits out of hats; doing something totally unexpected at meetings and team visits. It was even suggested that PGM stood not for Provincial Grand Master but Provincial Grand Magician. On occasion even his Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies, who is supposed (and I stress “supposed”) to know what is going to happen was taken unawares. Sometimes Richard would say to his Director of Ceremonies just before they entered the lodge room “Tonight, I would like to do it like this”. It was all part of his desire for fun. Let me go back to Richard’s investiture address:

“Brethren, I enjoy being a Freemason and the day I stop enjoying it I will leave. We have to work together, all of us, to ensure that every member of this Province enjoys his Freemasonry. All of you enjoy it or you would not be here today but what do we do to encourage others? Family, friendship and fun are just three routes to enjoyment. I am sure you can think of others. I would add to these faith, by which I mean a belief, belief in a supreme being. That is one single issue that binds us all together. That faith, which applies to every sleeping and waking moment of our lives, is fundamental to our being Freemasons.”

Richard never stopped urging upon us these routes to enjoyment and this need for belief. He led a Province which had fun and that could only be for the good of Freemasonry and the wider community.

He was known affectionately by those who worked closely with him quite simply as “the Boss” – a term which became widely used.

So how did all this come about? I’m afraid that I now need to quote some dates but I’ll keep them to a minimum.

Richard was born in 1939 and was forty-two years old when he was initiated into Huntcliff Lodge No 4539 in December 1981. He, there, joined his father W.Bro Herbert Anderson who, somewhat prophetically, would himself become Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies in this Province – and a very good one by all accounts. I realise that that may imply that some are not; that inference is not intended but I hope that those Past and Present Provincial Grand Directors of Ceremonies here today – and there are a few – will take my word for that!

Richard progressed through the various offices at Huntcliff and I know that there is, at least, one brother here today who remembers fondly, on his own initiation, being led round by Richard who was then Junior Deacon. As was common at that time it took Richard fourteen years to reach the Chair – for those who are not accountants that takes us to 1995. After being Immediate Past Master, he served as Secretary for two years – those present who are, or have been, Directors of Ceremonies will not fail to notice what good experience that was for a brother who was to become Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies – there is a strange relationship between secretaries and directors of ceremonies at Provincial level!

We have, perhaps, the first clue that Bro Richard John Anderson was “going somewhere” in 1993 when Richard was appointed to active rank as Provincial Grand Pursuivant, still two years before he became Worshipful Master of Huntcliff Lodge.

In 1999 Richard was promoted to Provincial Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies, an office that he once described as “the best job in the Province” and in 2001 to Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies. A brother who travelled much with Richard at that time recently described Richard to me as very good and, more particularly, ”very relaxed” or at least he appeared to be relaxed!

And then, in November 2002, Richard was invited by the M.W the Grand Master to accept the office of R.W.Provincial Grand Master for the Province of Yorkshire North and East Ridings following the sad death in September 2002 of his Honour Judge Gerald James Kay Coles. Richard’s reaction:

“I suspect that I am just about as surprised to find myself standing here before you as many of you are to see me here…After the euphoria of that Saturday morning in late November sheer blind panic set in as I walked the dogs along the beach near my home in Saltburn and I began to consider the enormity of the task that I had agreed to undertake.” At that time there were 5268 memberships within the Province – an enormous task indeed.
Richard remained R.W Provincial Grand Master until his retirement on 31st October 2013.

Richard was very highly regarded by United Grand Lodge in London, and this is shown by the fact that he served in his own right on the Board of General Purposes for ten years from 2008. He was also a member of the Audit Committee for eight years, most of them as Chairman.

In addition to Huntcliff Lodge Richard was a founder of Tees Tablers Lodge No 9564 and also a Founder (and later Honorary Member) of Provincial Grand Stewards Lodge No9611, a joining member of Marquess of Zetland Lodge No 9349 and Roseberry Lodge of Installed Masters No 8571 and an Honorary Member of Eboracum Lodge No 1605.

In the Chapter Richard was exalted into Huntcliff Chapter No 4539 in 1984 and was Scribe E for four years before going through the Chairs and becoming First Principal in 1999. He was appointed Past Provincial Grand Scribe N in 2002 and M.E Grand Superintendent in 2007. At his investiture in the Craft in 2003 Richard had pledged “the full and unstinting support of all Craft Masons” to the Chapter and expressed the wish that he would “truly like to see every Craft Mason become a Companion of the Order and thereby to complete his third degree”. In 2007 , Richard explained on his investiture in the Chapter:

“I have a strategy. It could be summed up in a word ”Together”. I believe that the established relationship between the Craft and the Chapter is special and unique and benefits both parties.”

Richard continued as M.E Grand Superintendent until his retirement on, again, 31st October 2013.

Richard was also a joining member of both Roseberry Chapter of Installed Principals No 8571 and of Provincial Grand Stewards Chapter No 9611 later becoming an Honorary Member of the latter. He was also an Honorary Member of White Horse Chapter of Installed Principals No 9807.

He was also a member of the Mark and of the Rose Croix and held high rank in both.

hose details set out in stark terms Richard’s achievements in terms of rank and recognition. They do not, however, do him justice in explaining the manner in which he made those achievements. I hope that I started to explain this earlier.
Richard, as a past Director of Ceremonies, knew how masonic meetings should run and he was always keen that they should run properly. At the same time he wanted the brethren to enjoy themselves and he was keen that all share the fun. One of his past Provincial Grand Directors of Ceremonies frequently says “We had the best of times.” We did. That same brother recalls standing in the middle of a lodge room to give the salutations to Richard and then having a mental blank and forgetting Richard’s name! He looked to Richard – whether for inspiration or help I do not know – only to find Richard howling with laughter as much as anyone else.

The Teddies for Loving Care Scheme was joined by this Province during Richard’s time as Provincial Grand Master in 2006. It provides teddy bears for children in Accident and Emergency Departments of hospitals throughout the country and, in this Province, in several hospitals. The funding of those teddy bears comes largely from the sale of lapel badges in the form of a teddy bear. I can tell you that Richard would have had a field day today; there are very few such badges in evidence, and he liked nothing better than to circulate among the brethren and “encourage” them individually to relieve him of the stock which he always seemed to have with him. He thought it especially amusing to sell a badge to any member of his team who had come out without one and then to revisit that brother later in the evening and to reclaim that badge because he had none left and had found another buyer. The one here in my lapel has probably had three previous owners.

Charity was high on Richard’s list of interests for freemasons but, rightly, believed that it was an individual matter for each brother; it was Richard’s task simply to awaken the interest. In terms of financial charity he presided over three specific appeals:

The 2006 Festival which brought in the magnificent total of £2,325,736 for the Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys and that hot on the heels of the Millennium Appeal for the restoration of the St.William Window in York Minster which had raised in excess of £400.000

An appeal launched in 2007 to run one year to raise £75,000 for Yorkshire Air Ambulance – it actually raised the superb sum in that time of £151,000.

An appeal launched in 2009 for research into Prostate Cancer which raised £124.000 to which the Masonic Samaritan Fund generously added a further £80,000. Prostate cancer awareness was not mentioned as much then as it is now and it came to the fore in this Province when Richard himself sadly fell victim to it and, thankfully, successfully overcame it. It is pleasing to note that the Provincial Charity, Freemasons Charity of Yorkshire North and East Ridings, still funds prostate cancer testing at the meetings of Provincial Grand Lodge and Provincial Grand Chapter; unfortunately there are always some brethren whose test results display symptoms but it can safely be said that lives have been saved, and continue to be saved, as a result of the awareness which Richard had raised.

After his retirement as “the Boss” he fell back into supporting his own lodge, continuing to visit other lodges and to represent his successor all with the same energy as previously. When an open day was held at Saltburn Masonic Hall in 2017 he was manning the door and showing visitors around. He once told me that he had now been able to spend a day without writing a report or speech for the first time in eleven years and that, with his new-found time, he was showing an interest in the garden; Sue may have a view on that!

Let me give you a final example of Richard’s humour. At every lodge meeting that he attended a toast would be given to him and he, of course, responded. He knew how important it was to get the audience on his side early on. One way in which he did this was to start with;

“I was talking to the Provincial Grand Master’s wife in bed this morning.”

It always took a little time for this to sink in – as it has today! Then there was laughter.

Richard was a kind, generous, courteous, appreciative, caring, astute, and forward-thinking man and wanted enjoyment to be had by all. He led this fine Province in the Craft with enthusiasm, dedication and distinction for some eleven years and in the Chapter for some six years. As I have mentioned above, they have been described as the best of times; I believe that that is the experience of very many. We thank Richard for all of that and we thank Sue for so selflessly supporting Richard’s commitment.

There is a part of our ritual that advises a brother that he should” limit his desires in every station of life so that, rising to eminence by merit, he will live respected and die regretted”. R.W Bro Richard John Anderson most clearly heeded that advice wholeheartedly.