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W. Bro. David L. Heard was the second Master in the history of the Lodge,
to hold the Office for a second term. This came about due to the ill health
of the Master Elect, Bro. James Heminsley.
I feel that the facts of this tragic case should be recorded here, if only
for the respect we all feel for our Brother who was unable to achieve his
ambition of being Master, and a very good Master he would have been. Right up
to the end he was very enthusiastic about Freemasonry in general and Mozart
Lodge in particular.
He had been proposed into Masonry by Bro. R. Roberts, seconded by W. Bro. W.
A. S. Allsopp, and was Initiated on February 20th. 1976.
Having held the Office of Inner Guard, his health started to fail when he was
the Junior Deacon.
The Master Elect in 1990 was Bro. L H. Heminsley and he was too ill to attend
his Installation in October, or indeed the second attempt which was held over
to the November meeting in the hope that he would be well enough.
Poor Bro. Jim, had fought a losing battle against the effects of diabetes,
for a number of years, but the last seven years had been a desperate time.
During this time he had lost his sight, and will you believe it, regained it
briefly for a few weeks. When the blindness returned, this time for good, one
can imagine the disappointment he underwent.
This was by no means the end of his troubles, for his kidneys then failed and
he underwent a period of being sustained by a dialysis machine.
A suitable kidney was eventually found for him, and this was transplanted in
the Queen Elizabeth
Hospital. Birmingham.
By no means was this an easy time for Brother Jim, because his body initially
rejected the new kidney and he came within an ace of having it removed.
It did take, and for a period things were not too bad for him, and he was
able to take his belated place as our Junior Warden. When Bro. Geoff
Round was initiated on December 15th. 1989 Bro. Jim
delivered “The Charge” to the Initiate. It was as near word
perfect as you can get and delivered in such a sincere way that I know that
it left a lasting impression on Bro Geoff.
Then things really started to deteriorate, and he lost the toes from one of
his feet. He courageously overcame this problem and attended the Lodge
whenever he was able, as Senior Warden.
In 1990, he underwent another operation to remove toes from his other foot,
but this was not his only problem. His transplanted kidney was malfunctioning
and he was in and out of hospital to correct the effects of this.
During the whole of the time he was in hospital over the years, sometimes for
weeks at a time, his dear wife Maureen was always at his bedside. It must
have been a terrible time for her as indeed it was for Bro. Jim.
He was in hospital when he should have been Installed as our Master, and he
was desperately disappointed at not being able to fulfil one of his dearest
ambitions.
By way of consolation to him, and as a reward for the courage he had shown
over those very trying years, the Provincial Grand Master, The R.W. Bro. the
Rt. Rev. Vernon Nicholls, visited him in his hospital bed and conferred on
him the honour of Past Provincial Assistant Grand Standard Bearer. By all
accounts this was a very moving experience for all those who were present at
the time.
Having refused to have his leg amputated, Bro. Jim came home from hospital,
and at lunchtime on January 17th. 1991, whilst his dear wife was preparing
his lunch in the kitchen, he passed peacefully to the Grand Lodge Above,
sitting in his chair. He was 52 years of age.
During all those long years of personal suffering, he bore it with a courage
that could only be admired, and his great sense of humour kept bouncing back
to the fore. He was a remarkable man, and I had first hand experience of
this, as being a Brother who lived not too far away from him, I took him to
all the Lodge meetings, Officers meetings and Lodges of Instruction that he
was able to attend after he lost his sight
When calling for him on one occasion to take him to the Lodge meeting, he
informed me that messages received on his CB indicated that the traffic on
the M6 was at a standstill between Cannock and Birmingham.
Whilst debating aloud with myself on which way to go, he said he would guide
me along a route that would prove to be the best at 11 o’clock on a Friday morning. He did just that,
and so I must be one of the very few drivers who have been guided across the Midland
conurbation by a man who could not see!
All the Brethren of the Lodge and the Ladies will remember the stories he
used to tell mainly against himself, about the problems of being blind in a
modern world. Stories such as finding himself amongst the cardboard boxes in
the back of some woman’s garage, having walked up the drive and through
the open doors by mistake.
Or the classic tale he related one Ladies Evening, about his being trained to
operate a guide dog. A lady came from the training school to teach him the
routine before the dog arrived, and took him out for a walk, during which he
had to give orders to an imaginary dog. Eventually they came to a school
entrance and he could hear the sound of the children.
The instructor made him aware of the presence of children, and said this
would excite the ‘dog’ and cause him to misbehave. He needed
therefore to be very firm with the dog’, to bring him back under
control.
Whilst Bro. Jim was giving the orders to the ‘dog’ to make him
sit, he felt a tugging at his trouser leg. Putting his hand down to
investigate, he felt the head of a child, who promptly said, “Please
Mister, but you have lost your dog?”
We will always remember Bro. Jim Heminsley.
(Written by W.Bro. Arthur Aston.)
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