Judge Reynolds active in Serra for 50 years

By William T. Clew
The Catholic Free Press
LEOMINSTER - Serra Club Worcester North has honored retired Judge Edward J. Reynolds for his 50 years as a member.
Judge Reynolds, in an interview before the award dinner held Wednesday, said the Serra Club was started in Seattle, Washington, in 1934. In 1938, Serra International was formed and over the ensuing years has spread across the country and around the world. The Serra Club North was chartered on Jan. 24, 1951, the 57th Serra Club in the country. It was founded after the Worcester Diocese was formed with Bishop John J. Wright as first bishop and continued under Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan, Bishop Timothy J. Harrington, Bishop Daniel P. Reilly and Bishop Robert J. McManus.
Judge Reynolds said his father, Jim, was involved with the North club from its inception. Judge Reynolds said he followed in his father’s footsteps and became a member in 1968.  
He said he has held all the offices in the club including treasurer, secretary and, in 1971, president. He is a club trustee. He and his father are the only father and son who held the presidency in the history of the club.
As a lawyer he had an office and a secretary.
“So my secretary really was the treasurer and the secretary and the president,” he said with a laugh.
In 1978 he was selected as district governor with oversight of other Serra clubs in New England. In 1982 he was named International Trustee with responsibility for New England. He attended meetings in the Serra Club headquarters in Chicago and conventions across the country and in other parts of the world.
“I have met some terrific clergy and lay people from different countries,” he said.     
In 1983 Serra International held its annual convention in Rome. The pope was John Paul II, now St. John Paul II. Judge Reynolds said he did a reading at the Mass celebrated by the pope. Later he and the others joined the pontiff at a private meeting.
Serra International is an organization of Catholic lay men and, since 1986, women who come together in fellowship and prayer to foster and promote vocations for priests and religious through awareness, affirmation and support.
“For more than 60 years, the Serra Clubs in the Diocese of Worcester have been supporting priestly vocations. This ministry is vital in our Diocese, more than ever. I encourage and invite you to join this special group of men and women today.” Bishop McManus said on the Serra Club website.
Judge Reynolds said the local club holds monthly meetings at different churches in North Worcester County. After Mass they have dinner, hear a speaker and meet in the parish center or in the school gym.
Judge Reynolds said his Jesuit education, as well as the example set by his father, has fostered his interest in the mission of the Serra organization. He attended Julie Country Day School in Leominster. Then he had eight years of Jesuit education, four at Cranwell Preparatory School in Lenox and four at Boston College.
He graduated from B.C. in 1959, studied law at the New England School of Law and passed the Massachusetts bar examination in 1963. He practiced law for seven or eight years with the law firm of Fletcher, Tilton & Whipple in Worcester. He then was senior partner for many years with Gelinas, Ward & Reynolds in Fitchburg.
In 1993 Gov. William F. Weld named him a justice of the Massachusetts Trial Court. He presided as a District Court judge in Leominster and in other district courts throughout Worcester County. He served until 2007 when, at the age of 70, he was required to retire by state law.
He has continued to practice law since his retirement from the bench.
A trim and fit 81-year-old, Judge Reynolds still stays active. He is a member of the Gardner Golf Club; he skis often, in New England and in Colorado, and competes in skiing in the Massachusetts Senior Games.
And he plays hockey. He has been playing in the Fitchburg Old Timers hockey league since it was founded more than 40 years ago.
Last year he was a member of a U.S. hockey team that played against a Canadian team in Ottawa, Canada as part of the celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary as a country. Our neighbors to the North put out a challenge to the United States to send up a team on which every player was 80 or older, to meet a Canadian team of the same age, he explained.
Judge Reynolds was one of 15 players on the U.S. team. They beat the Canadians 3-2.
This year they were invited back. But, Judge Reynolds said, the Canadians had a new group of players and the result was not quite as good.
“We finished second,” he said.
The judge was to be awarded a silver pin at a club dinner meeting Wednesday at St. Leo Parish Hall.

– To join Serra call John J. Shannon at 978-534-4607.