JOHN H. CROW DEATH

[Welland Tribune November 24, 1943]

CROW- At his late residence, 201 Niagara street, Welland on Tuesday, November 23, 1943, John H. Crow, in his 88th year. The funeral will be held on Friday, November 26th, at two p.m. from his late residence, 201 Niagara street, Welland. Entombment in Fonthill mausoleum.

John Crow is Laid to Rest

[Welland Tribune November 27, 1943]

Surrounded by hosts of friends from every walk of life, his casket banked by a wealth of floral tributes John H. Crow, Welland’s grand old man and Welland’s wartime mayor of the First World War, was interred on Friday afternoon in Fonthill mausoleum. Pallbearers were the highest officers of the Masonic fraternity in the Niagara peninsula, and among those who came to do honor to a beloved citizen were Mayor T. Harry Lewis and strong representations from Welland City Council, Welland Board of Education, and other civic bodies and the two local lodges of the Masonic fraternity, Merritt and Cope-Stone. Befitting one of the high Masonic rank deceased was borne to his final resting place by the following pallbearers—D.D.G.M. Right Wor. Bro. Brock Grant and the following P.D. D.G.M.’s, Right Wor. Bro C.S. Bravin, Right Wor. Bro. T. Wallace Houtby and Right Wor. Bro R.R. Camp; also very Wor Bro. L.R. Brennan, and Wor . Bro. Milton Stewart, former worshipful master of Merritt Masonic Lodge of which deceased had been a member for 60 years.

Rev. Dr. W.J. Mumford of Hagersville United church, former pastor of Central United church, and Rev. Roy M. Geiger of St Paul’s United church, Paris and Rev. L.R. Ballantyne, present pastor of Central United church, officiated at the service held in the late residence on Niagara street and again at the Fonthill mausoleum. The services were simple and impressive, and at the mausoleum some 40 members of the two Welland lodges, Merritt and Cope-Stone, conducted Masonic rites under direction of District Deputy Grand Master Brock Grant, and as each member passed by the bier he placed a sprig of evergreen, Masonic emblem, on the casket. Wor. Bro. J.S. O’Neal assisted at the  rites. Prior to the service at the late residence the Masonic brethern had gathered at the Masonic rooms and had there met in preparation for the later ceremonies, and at the late residence the brethren formed a guard of honor as the  casket was borne to the hearse. Past district deputy grand masters officiated as flower bearers, led by D.D.G.M. Brock Grant.

Theme “Going West”

At the service held in the late residence Rev. Dr Mumford referred to the passing of the late Mr. Crow as a process of going west”. He considered this process of passing on as a symbol of God’s unchanging law similar to that of the going down of the sun. The sun set in the west presaging the morning dawn of its rising in the east.

“You could not know John Crow or converse with him without realising not only his brilliant mind but also his faculty for giving himself out to the service of others,” Dr. Mumford reminded those present “I am sure,” he added, “that wherever John Crow went he added richness of mind and heart to those who were with him. His whole inspiration was service, and the foundation of his inspired being lay in the fact that in early life and all through his life he was a loyal churchman, and in all his dealing he was graciousness and integrity personified. May we not feel that he has gone west to a still greater tranquility of spirit and to a still greater scope for service!”

Motorcycle Officer Owen Stanley of Welland officiated as police patrol for the journey to Fonthill.