Knights Of Note

March 2011

Bill Lynn



Each day at the Soup Kitchen, after the preparation of the meal is almost complete and before the guests arrive, the volunteers are called to the small chapel where they pray this prayer composed by Blessed Teresa of Calcutta:
          Dear Lord, the Great Healer,
          I kneel before You,
          Since every perfect gift must come from You.
          I pray, give skill to my hands,
          clear vision to my mind,
          kindness and meekness to my heart.
          Give me singleness of purpose,
          strength to lift up part of the burden
          of my suffering fellow man,
          and a true realization of the privilege that is mine….
                    -- Mother Theresa’s "Meditations from A   Simple Path"

Blessed Teresa defines for us the perfect healing gift from God: the ability, the strength, and the opportunity to serve our fellow men; but the true Grace of His gift is the capacity to realize how great a privilege it is to be called to serve.
Sir Knight William J. (Bill) Lynn said this prayer for thirteen years and who can doubt that his prayer was answered. In analyzing a life of such remarkable charitable service, where personal agenda does not exist, where motive is totally selfless, it is sometimes impossible to separate the giver from the gift inasmuch as the giver in a very real way becomes the gift itself. He was blessed with the perfect gift, but strove valiantly to share that perfect gift with all of us.

Bill went to the Soup Kitchen faithfully from 1989 until his death in 2003. Before February 2003, he missed going maybe once – when he had surgery on his arm for malignant melanoma. He still went to the Soup Kitchen although he wasn’t much help with one arm – but he had made a commitment.
Even between his quadruple bypass in February 2003 and his diagnosis of colon cancer in August – and surgery in September 2003 - he made it to the Soup Kitchen until his death in November 2003.
He was very faithful to Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity.
                                                             --Barbara Lynn


In an attempt to tailor a mantle of praise, one is often prone to use words like compassion, dedication, and devotion – words which have become frayed through overuse and exaggeration. In the case of Bill Lynn, perhaps the only appropriate way to pay him tribute is to avoid any litany of clichés and merely stand both in respectful admiration of his legacy of example and in awe of the glorious God who blessed us with the perfect gift.

January 2011

At the Christmas Party on December 9, the council formally recognized Sir Knight Leroy (Roy) Schlumpberger and Knight August (Gus) Baechle as members who have each given more than fifty five years of service to the Knights of Columbus.



These brother knights are two of the four members of our council with more than fifty years of continuous service.

Roy Schlumpberger was initiated into Council 1536 in Yankton, S.D. in 1955. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Shawnee, Ks. in late 1956 and transferred to Council 2332. After eight years in the Shawnee area, Roy and family moved to the Mission country in east Texas for four years, then to Redbud, Illinois for five years; Roy maintained his membership in the Shawnee, Ks. council inasmuch as there were no councils in those Texas or Illinois areas. In 1972, the family moved to Hannibal, Mo., and Roy transferred to Council 937. Eighteen months later, Roy’s work took him to Shawnee Mission, Ks. where he joined Council 843. While a member of the Shawnee Mission Council in 1985, Roy, along with his brother, became a 4th Degree Knight.

Soon after Roy moved to Ballwin in 1995, he transferred to our Council 9522

Over the span of fifty five years, Roy has served a Grand Knight, Deputy Grand Knight, Chancellor, Inside and Outside Guard, and a Trustee at all levels. He even edited the newsletter for four years while holding the office of Grand Knight. In our council, Roy has been a tireless worker at the Soup Kitchen, worked every Tootsie Roll Drive and Pancake Breakfast, and ramrodded the Sulphur Springs cleanup.

Gus Baechle is a native of Bloomsdale, Mo. His father was a member of nearby Ste. Genevieve Council 1037 where he had held every office including that of Grand Knight. At the age of eighteen, Gus was told by his father that it was time for him to join the Knights and dutifully agreed to be initiated in May of 1953. Shortly thereafter, Gus enrolled in college. After college, he embarked on a series of moves that took him to Milwaukee, then to Cincinnati, and finally to St. Louis. Gus retained his membership in Ste. Genevieve Council 1037 for almost twenty five years until shortly after the formation of our Marian Council 9522 in 1987.

Brother Knight Baechle has been an active parishioner in St. Joseph Parish for more than forty two years. He served on the parish Finance Committee for eight years, has been a member of the ACTS Retreat Team, and is still an active Eucharistic Minister. In our council, he has always been ready and willing to take a shift on the weekend of the “Tootsie Roll” Drive.

The council herein expresses our deep appreciation for the long and loyal participation of these men.

December 2010

Jim O'Hara: M.R. Drive Leadership

Anyone who has attempted to push a stalled car or has watched a successful space shuttle launch from Cape Kennedy understands the basic concepts of inertia and momentum. It takes a great deal more force to put an object-at-rest into motion than to sustain its movement.

An obvious analogy can be made in respect to programs within an organization.
Ideas, like objects, will not move without the application of significant propelling force.

In an organization, the initial propelling force which transforms an idea into productive activity is dynamic leadership.

The M.R. Drive has become our council’s annual validation of our mission of charity; and to mark the conclusion of another outstanding annual campaign, the council wishes to pay tribute to the man who provided the thrust which launched our council’s initial participation in the M.R. Drive.

Thank you, Sir Knight Jim O’Hara for providing Marian Council with an idea-in-motion.

You may wish to read Larry Moore’s more detailed account of Jim O’Hara’s involvement in the council’s first M.R. Drive in the December, 2010 issue of the Knightly News,available in the “Newsletter Archives” on this website.

October 2010

Ron Hantak Completes 20 years with Lafayette Industries

Brother Ron Hantak who over the years has been a tireless worker for our Council has just completed his twentieth year of service with Lafayette Industries. Rob Libera, the Executive Director, had this to say about Ron:

“Ron is my most reliable, dependable, and loyal employee. These are qualities which any employer would greatly value. In addition to doing his own work, in his position as the lead-worker on his team, he helps train other team members and assists in supplying the production line with required materials. We are indeed fortunate to have Ron with us.”

It is gratifying to see Ron get this well-deserved recognition. Congratulations, Ron.