Lawrence H. Cooke to receive
DeWitt Clinton Masonic AwardMONTICELLO - Retired chief judge Lawrence Henry Cooke of Monticello, formerly of the NYS Court of Appeals, has been selected by Grand Lodge of the State of New York to receive the DeWitt Clinton Award for Community Service. The award will be presented at a ceremony hosted by Monticello Lodge #532, Free & Accepted Masons, on April 24, commencing 7:00 P.M., at the Monticello High School cafeteria, a location which is accessible to the disabled.
The keynote speaker will be professor Vincent M. Bonventre of Albany Law School. Others who have known and worked with Judge Cooke will also speak.
A special section paying tribute to Judge Cooke will appear in The River Reporter as part of the April 20 issue.
Before serving as chief judge of New York's highest court from 1979 to 1984, Judge Cooke was elected an associate judge of the same court in 1974. A Monticello native, now 80 years of age, Judge Cooke was designated associate justice of the Appellate Division by Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller in 1968 and 1971. Elected to the NYS Supreme Court in 1961, he previously served as Sullivan County Court Judge and Sullivan County Children's Court Judge.
Besides a long and distinguished career as a jurist and attorney, Judge Cooke was selected for this award because of his exemplary and upright life, His motto, "Always take the high road" comports with the highest ideals of Freemasonry, according to Monticello Lodge worshipful master Angelo Vasquez.
The DeWitt Clinton Award recognizes distinguished or outstanding community service by non-Masonic organizations or individuals who actions exemplify a shared concern for the well-being of humanity and a belief in the worldwide brotherhood of man and sisterhood of woman.
During the same program, an citizenship award will be presented to Erin Dunne, age 14, a freshman at Monticello High School who made the news last December when she turned in a wallet to the lost-and-found at a mall in Middletown. The wallet contained over $2000 and had been lost by an elderly couple. Rather than accepting a reward from the couple, Miss Dunne suggested they make a donation to charity.
Judge Cooke and Miss Dunne are contrasting role-models of exemplary civic behavior. Judge Cooke has devoted a lifetime to public service and building a record of achievement. Miss Dunne is just beginning her life's journey, but her honesty and selfless wisdom -- in a momentary act of decency and courtesy -- offer a positive, hopeful view for the potential of today's youth.
For more information on the awards program, call Thomas Rue at 914/791-7014. To learn more about the activities of Freemasonry anywhere in Sullivan County, call Arthur Glueck at 914/436-8244, or the Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons in the State of New York at 1-800/3MASON4.
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