Public Installation 2026
Our Brother, Hero of WWII, Jean Rene van Geuns Has Laid Down His Working Tools
Date: February 18, 2021
Jean René, left, Carl Hedlund, right, and Eugene Lindlau, center
From fighting Nazis in the second world war to travelling the world as a medical and pharmaceutical officer on ships, Jean lived a great life.
Initiated in 1973 in Mariners Lodge No. 67 and raised in 1975, he was a Mason for 46 years. He affiliated into Washington Lodge No. 21 in 1995 and this eventually became his primary lodge.
Heroics in the war
Between 1940 to 1944, when Jean was only 16-years-old, he smuggled allied pilots and Jewish families out of Nazi territory. In an interview to Historiek magazine, Jean recounted the amazing yet dangerous trips he made to aid the resistance.
“My father was on the platform looking out and I accompanied the pilot; if I saw German police on the train I would get up and as long as I stayed seated it was safe. Not a word was exchanged.”
He was involved in at least three attacks on the SS and Wehrmacht – the armed forces of Nazi Germany. Jean is arrested and imprisoned at Sicherheitsdienst in Arnhem. One day, in the darkness of the night, a badly beaten man joins Jean as his cellmate. As daylight pierces through their prison window, Jean realizes that the tortured man is his father, Ernest.
I do not “know why he was arrested. That must have been the last time I saw him.”
Ernest was a member of the Free Netherlands group and was executed soon after with seven other members in reprisal for attacks on German soldiers.
Jean René soon after WWII
After the war
Jean made a promise to God that he would walk to Rome from the Netherlands should he survive the war. And he did. Well almost.
Officers at the customs office laughed at his idea and advised that God wouldn’t mind if Jean took a ride and in short four days he was in Vatican. He did, however, walk all the way back to the Netherlands which took a month and Jean was screaming of exhaustion by the end of journey.
Bottom line, Jean says, that “never believe the people who say that God will forgive something easily.”
He studied law in Lieden, Netherlands, and was offered a mining job in Africa. It is there that he married an American and relocated to the U.S. But it is in America that he met the love of his life Elvia, now 56 years ago. He trained as a medical and pharmaceutical officer on ships which gave him the opportunity to travel the world.
“I really enjoyed the seafaring life and I have seen a lot of the world. But every year I came to the Netherlands for my mother’s birthday, on December 22.”
Masonic life
Jean was an exemplar to the brothers of Washington Lodge No. 21. His hard work and we must say his sacrifices for the lodge were unmatched and we can say with confidence that always will be. He took Masonic teachings or morality and brotherly love to heart and genuinely practiced them in his life. We have reached out to his family to assure that we are here for them. Jean expressed an interest in a Masonic funeral and brothers of the craft will perform the Masonic Memorial Service on Sunday, Feb 28 in Brooklyn.
Chairman of the Custodians of the Work and Past Master of Mariners Lodge said that when he was being recruited into the district leadership and had some misgivings as to the financial expectations since he was making his main living as a performing artist at the time, Jean offered to defray some of his expenses as he thought it was important that his Mother Lodge had a “seat at that table.”
Jean pioneered Masons online presence. VW Bro. Trevor W. McKeown, former Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia & Yukon wrote:
“Global Fraternal Network with the full support of the Grand Lodge of New York, the Global Fraternal Network (GFN) was established in 1994 by Richard A. Newman and Jean Rene van Geuns when they developed ‘Virtual Internet Lodge No. 1’—a password protected website—although a domain was not registered and uploaded until 1996. Starting in 1993 with a bulletin board of about 58 participants, thirteen years later the GFN reported more than 17,000 members.”
Washington Lodge celebrated his accomplishments with a testimonial dinner in 2015 under the leadership of Past Master Isaiah McNabb.
Jean René died peacefully during the early hours of Thursday, Feb 18, 2021. He was 96-years-old and is survived by his wife Elvia and daughter Danielle. May he rest in peace.
How we can fight racism and promote harmony with Master Mason Rev Jesse Jackson
Speaker: Rev. Jesse Jackson
Date: October 31, 2020
Rev Jesse Jackson, who was made a Freemason by Grand Master of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Illinois on May 25th, 1987, joined the brothers of Washington Lodge No. 21 and others masons to talk about racism and the importance of engaging people.
Close to 40 masons from the U.S., Canada and other places attended the Zoom conference that was held on October 31, 2020. Rev Jackson said that the discipline practiced in Masonic lodges helped him organize other parts of his life including his work on civil rights.
Rev Jackson was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. Senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He is widely acknowledged as one of the leaders of the civil rights movement.
Rev Jackson said that one of the things he loves about masonry is that it teaches that “life is sacrificial not transactional.”
“The core principles, the disciplines involved. We are spiritual is [a] discipline build into its concepts. So the idea of having one brother across […] race, gender, religion. That’s masonry. Life is sacrificial not transactional that’s masonry.”
WASHINGTON LODGE NO. 21 AND THE ROLE ITS MEMBERS PLAYED IN THE HAMILTON/BURR DUEL OF 1804
Speaker: Bro. Andrew Kozinn
Date: January 16, 2020
Link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1HlEFCjKduWts9CtxYj_kJvMe9DGUShjZuGtkk_QRhwE/edit?usp=sharing
An exploration of the fascinating historical connections and the direct role that members of Washington Lodge No. 21 played in the infamous 1804 duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.
Race & Freemasonry
Speaker: Bro. Andrew Kozinn
Date: March 18th, 2021
Link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Y2Pz4N5sr-3yIYzA5ISQ70YZ9tfDSjKGz4egdE9i5G4/edit?usp=sharing
At our regular meeting on March 18, 2021, Brother Andrew Kozinn, Washington Lodge’s Historian, made a presentation entitled “Race and Freemasonry.” Brother Kozinn had researched how Washington Lodge #21 and Freemasonry in general, have acted with regard to African American men over the Lodge’s 221 year history.
This issue had never been openly discussed in our Lodge nor, frankly, to any extent in Grand Lodge proceedings. Brother Kozinn shed light on topics such as George Washington’s attitude towards slavery, Freemasonry and the Ku Klux Klan, the recent destruction of the Albert Pike statue in Washington, why Prince Hall Freemasonry was not recognized for so long by our Grand Lodge, and a part of our Masonic ritual that appears to encourage discrimination.
A Geographic History of Washington Lodge No. 21
Speaker: Bro. Andrew Kozinn
Date: January 16, 2020
Take an historical journey through the ups and downs of our great Lodge, now celebrating its 225th Anniversary!
Summoned Communication — Ritual Workshop
Details: Washington Lodge #21 will have collation in the French Ionic Room on the 10th floor at 6pm followed by a Stated Communication in the French Doric Room next door at 7 pm. Jacket and tie, please. This evening’s Communication will feature a ritual workshop led by W. LJ Garcia. Please let us know you’re coming!
Agenda: Review of ritual for upcoming Degrees.
Meeting Time: 7PM
Meeting Location: 10th Floor French Doric Room
Collation Time: 6PM
Collation Cost: $10
Collation Location: 10th Floor French Ionic Room
Dress Code: Jacket and tie
Public Installation of Officers
Public installation of lodge officers for the upcoming term. (Collation in French Ionic Room)
Summoned Communication — Step-Up Night
Annual Step-Up Night communication. (Collation in French Ionic Room – 6 PM)