Ionic-Composite Lodge and Muscular Dystrophy
A story in two parts.
By: Ronald Koretz, P.M.
DeMolay is an international organization of young men (14-21 years of age) and is the youth group for males in the Masonic family. Its principles and practices are greatly influenced by Masonry and its adult leaders are Masons. Pioneer Chapter of the Order of DeMolay met for a number of decades wherever Ionic Lodge no. 520 met. However, because the Grand Lodge of California had adopted a policy of not having a Masonic Lodge sponsor a youth group, the relationship between the two organizations was less formal. Nonetheless, the DeMolay chapter regularly visited Ionic Lodge and presented its ritual at stated meetings of the Lodge. Members of the Lodge were largely the men who worked with the DeMolays in their social and athletic activities and provided adult leadership. Many of the men who aged out of DeMolay at 21 subsequently joined the Lodge, including this writer (Wor. Ron Koretz).
Around 1963, an article appeared in a local newspaper (San Pedro Pilot News) about a young man in the community named Randy Lafferty. At that time, Randy was 17 years old and had been symptomatic with muscular dystrophy for 8 years. The diagnosis was not a surprise to the Lafferty family, as Randy’s two older brothers were similarly afflicted. In fact, the oldest brother had already succumbed to the disease.
The purpose of the newspaper article was to appeal for people to become pen pals for Randy. At that time, Randy was no longer able to attend public school and was taught at home by his mother and a private tutor. The article was read by some members of the DeMolay Chapter and they decided to do more than just correspond with Randy. Those DeMolays began to make regular visits to Randy, brought him films of sports events and travelogues, and even bought an electric bed for him. Although Randy was never physically capable of joining the chapter, the DeMolays treated him like he was a DeMolay brother and no doubt brought him much companionship that he otherwise lacked. They practiced the very Masonic values of brotherly love and relief that Masons promote.
Let us now jump backward to the 1950s. One of the members of Ionic Lodge was Brother Leonard Hess. Leonard owned a surplus store that was very close to MGM Studios in Culver City. Leonard was someone who was easy to talk to, rapidly made friends, and had empathy for the problems of others. At that time, Leonard began doing business with a man who gradually became a friend and the man began to tell Leonard about his personal problems. It turned out that the man had three sons and all of them had muscular dystrophy. One of them had passed away and the other two were becoming significantly impaired. While we have no evidence that the last name of this man was Lafferty, the demographic facts would seem to indicate that this was certainly a possibility.
Leonard wanted to do things to bring some assistance to the two remaining sons. Leonard brought these boys into his store and let them pick out whatever they wanted. Leonard was also a Dad Advisor for a DeMolay Chapter (probably Pioneer) and introduced some of the members to Randy (and probably also his other surviving brother). This allowed the creation of friendships that otherwise never would have occurred. But it was actually the location of his store that resulted in Leonard’s greatest contribution.
Because the store was so close to the MGM studio, a number of Hollywood celebrities would drop in periodically and, over the years, Leonard made friends with many of them. One of those celebrities invited Leonard to join his poker sessions and to play baseball with him at a local park. Leonard thought that the boys with muscular dystrophy would enjoy meeting such celebrities, so he introduced them to this one particular celebrity (among others). The celebrity had sons of his own and was very grateful that they were healthy. In fact, he took the plight of the two brothers to heart and he decided to do something about it.
By now, you may have developed some idea about where this story is going. The celebrity was Jerry Lewis. Jerry Lewis never provided a reason for his interest in muscular dystrophy when he was interviewed. I only became privy to this story because Leonard’s wife told it to me one day (and only after I had been talking to her for about 15 years). Jerry Lewis affiliated himself with the Muscular Dystrophy Association and hosted a Labor Day telethon for over 40 years, during which time he raised about 2.5 billion dollars for that charity.