‘Bro. Chris Hansen, R.I.P.’

     

W. Bro. Chris Hansen

Obituary editions of The Magpie Mason never come easily even though I really should be mature about it at my age.

W. Bro. Chris Hansen died at home September 3. The Past Master and long-serving Secretary of Goliath Lodge 5595 in London had complained of difficulty breathing that morning and, according to Worshipful Master Marco Visconti, Chris died at about noon.

“Chris was a truly unique individual: kind, attentive, always present,” Visconti said on social media. “His decade as Secretary of the lodge I am still presiding—three years, due to the ongoing pandemic—was fundamental in building it on the solid ground we inherited.”

“All the brethren of Goliath Lodge 5595 owe him a great deal,” he added. “He lived respected, and died regretted.”

Elsewhere in Freemasonry, Chris held London Grand Rank. He also was a member of Philanthropic Lodge in his native Marblehead, Massachusetts. That’s how I kind of met him.

I had written about Philanthropic long ago, and Chris appended the first of what would become a significant number of comments to various Magpie posts.

From there, we found each other on Facebook, and then Twitter. (It seems English Masons prefer tweeting in brief, while we Americans like the exhibitionism that Facebook affords.)

Through his social media chats, I noted his fondness for St. Laika’s, a “post-denominational” Christian community online named for the Soviet space dog launched to her death orbiting Earth aboard Sputnik 2 in 1957.

Goodbye, Bro. Chris. Peace in your own travels from this material world.