History of COUNCIL 1622, FREDERICK, MD

[ca. AD 2001]

     On the morning of Sunday, April 7, 1912, the first group of men of St. John the Evangelist Church in Frederick, Maryland met for the purpose of organizing a new Council. A short time later, the required number of candidates was obtained and a petition for a charter was made to the Supreme Office by State Deputy P.C. Mueller.

     On April 28, 1912, St. John's Council No. 1622 became a reality. The First Degree was conferred by the Degree Team of Hagerstown Council (now Pangborn Council No. 1365); the Second was conferred by Baltimore Council's Degree Team; the Third by Marquette Council under the direction of State Deputy Mueller and District Deputy W. B. Morrison of Hagerstown. For this event, special trains were chartered, bringing Knights of Columbus and their families from Baltimore, MD, York and Harrisburg, PA. The official record shows that about 1200 people journeyed to Frederick to mark the chartering of this new Council.

     The first meeting of the Council was held in St. John's Hall on the evening of May 1, 1912 under the direction of State Deputy Mueller and District Deputy Morrison. George S. Rodock was the first Grand Knight of this Council, serving from 1912 through 1913.

     In the early days of the Council, St. John's became known as the Mother of Councils. In a short time, through the great interest manifest by the Knights in Frederick, there followed the organizing of Brute Council of Emmitsburg, St. Francis Council of Brunswick and Mt. St. Mary's College and Seminary Council. During World War II, members of the Council joined other organizations in manning the USO Center in Frederick and had the honor of being the first organization to serve.

     In 1939, the Council purchased property and a dwelling on East Second Street. The mortgage on this property was burned on Columbus Day, 1947, at the annual banquet held at the Francis Scott Key Hotel.

     On April 28, 1962, St. John's Council No. 1622 celebrated its Golden Anniversary. During the course of this event, through the efforts of State Deputy Maurice Klein and District Deputy Francis Bush Sr., the Council officially changed its name to Bishop McNamara Council No. 1622. This was done in honor of a distinguished Catholic cleric Auxiliary Bishop John M. McNamara who served as Bishop of the Baltimore-Washington Diocese.


History of Most Rev. John Michael McNamara
Titular Bishop of Eumenia - Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore

     In 1971, the Council moved from East Street to a building and relocated to Jefferson, MD. In 1980, the Council bought the old Black Elementary School from the Odd Fellows on 16 W. Seventh Street and returned to Frederick. At the 7th Street address, the council ran Bingo games, pancake breakfasts and Friday Lenten Fish Fries.
    In 1996, the Council sold this property and started meeting at St. John's Literary Institute at Prospect Hall, the Catholic High School in Frederick, MD.. The Council stayed heavily involved in many activities. It sponsored a monthly Food SHARE cooperative. It conducted a monthly pancake breakfast to benefit a scholarship fund at St. John's Literary Institute at Prospect Hall. It conducted a Lenten Fish Fry. It raised funds annually to support a seminarian, runs a tootsie roll drive for the ARC of Frederick. It conducted an annual memorial Mass and a Pro-Life Christmas party.

In 2005, a number of changes occurred. St. John’s Regional Catholic (elementary) School had relocated to new property shared with the St. Katharine Drexel Parish. St. John the Evangelist Church invited the Knights and other ministries to move into the vacant classrooms of the old school building on 2^nd Street, renamed the St. John’s Community Center. St. John’s Literary Institute announced it’s plans to relocate to Buckeystown and efforts were initiated to form a new Council at St. Katharine Drexel Parish. These changes made it almost ordained for Bishop McNamara Council to move to St. John’s Community Center, and the Council became the principal user of “Room 10” in January 2006.

The Past Grand Knights of St John's (now Bishop McNamara) Council are:

 
1912-13 George S. Rodock
 
1913-15 Joseph F. Eisenhauer
 
1915-16 George F. Topper
 
1916-17 Harry F. Burkhart
 
1917-19 John McE. Wilson
 
1919-21 J. Harry Kennedy
 
1921-23 N. Wilson Schley
 
1923-24 Joseph F. Eisenhauer, II
 
1924-25 John McE. Wilson
 
1925-27 Ernest F. Kennedy
 
1927-33 John McE. Wilson
 
1933-36 J. Harry Kennedy
 
1936-37 Walter F. Zeigler
 
1937-38 Robert Hartman
 
1938-39 Austin C. Thomas
 
1939-40 James G. Conroy
 
1940-41 G. Bernard Callan
 
1941-43 L. Donald Davis
 
1943-45 Austin C. Thomas
 
1945-47 W. Jerome Offutt
 
1947-48 Melvin H. Zimmerman
 
1948-50 Alton J. Lipps
 
1950-52 L. Ignatius Kennedy
 
1952-55 Milton Nash, Jr.
 
1955-58 Theodore V. Levinson
 
1958-59 Victor L. Wolfe
 
1959-60 Francis W. Bush, Sr.
 
1960-62 William Irving Jones, Jr., PFN,
died 11/10/2003
 
1962-64 SK Richard J. O'Connor, PFN

 
1964-66 Leo Martin
 
1966-68 Leo Sanders
 
1968-70 SK Kenneth W. Martin, died 2/9/1999
 
1970-71 SK Richard E. Owens
 
1971-73 SK Alfred D. Tavares, died 11/19/1996
 
1973-75 Robert B. Morrow
 
1975-77 Harold Curry
 
1977-79 SK Robert D. Weedon, PFN, died 9/1/2003
 
1979-81 John J. Shriver
 
1981-82 Richard I. Putney
 
1982-83 William H. Brown, PFN, FDW 
died 7/3/2001
 
1983-84 Dennis L. Stone
 
1984-85 SK Robert D. Weedon, PFN
 
1985-87 SK Ernest E. Musser, Sr., PFN, FDD, PCP 
died 10/2/2000

 
1987-89 SK Robert W. Jack, FDD

1989-90 SK Edgar D. Haynes, PFN, FM

 
1990-91 SK William H. Garner, Jr., PFN
died 10/5/97
 
 1991-92 SK George H. Williams, PhD

 
1992-93 SK Robert J. Swain, PFN
 
1993-94 SK William R. Jack, FDD

 
1994-96 SK Joseph L. Brashears

1996-98 SK David B. Satterfield

 
1998-99 E. Allen Harris

 
1999-01 SK William J. Kinsella, Sr., FN

 
2001-02 SK Michael Harrison

 
2002-03 SK Joel Tootill

 
2003-05 SK Dave Zakrzwski

 
2005-07  Mike Czarnecki

2007-08 SK Bill Wierzbicky
 
 

Council Officer Rosters and Photographs
1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-2001 , 2001-2002, 2002-2003, 2003-2004, 2004-2005, 2005-2006, 2006-2007, 2007-2008,


Last Updated 04 July 2006 by DBS.