Cherchez la femme: Mrs Harry Friend

Gussie and Harry Friend

For the longest time, I had been hoping to find a photograph of Harry Friend, the developer of Friendly Acres.  I only had a photo of a street sign named after him so I was really keen on putting a face to the name.  After trawling the internet exhaustively, newspaper archives and genealogy sites, all to no avail, I decided to switch track and follow the wise adage of 'cherchez la femme'.  So I began researching his wife, Gussie, instead.

I knew that Mr and Mrs Friend had moved out of Friendly Acres to live out their retirement years in San Carlos, so I searched for Gussie Friend in San Carlos and, lo and behold, found her obituary in the San Mateo Times for November 5, 1974.

The obit was short. Her funeral was private, restricted to family only.  Mrs. Friend, 93, a native of Poland, a resident of 1525 San Carlos Avenue, had lived in San Mateo County for 65 years.  She was survived by a daughter, Miss Eva Bercut of San Francisco: two grandchildren and three great grandchildren.   Her interment was at Woodlawn Cemetery in Colma.

Woodlawn is part of the chain of cemeteries that makes up Colma city, the largest necropolis in the world.  Its also a crematorium.  And the Friends were cremated.  Their remains are together in a brass box engraved with their names and crowned with a masonic seal, locked behind a glass case.  Next to them are the remains of the rest of their family.


On the glass front case in front of every niche, the Bercut-Lust Family, Friend's great grandchildren, had taken the trouble of placing a photo of their loved ones.  He had died in 1961 and his wife thirteen years later in 1972.

Harry and Gussie Friend, Woodlawn Cemetery, Colma, CA

Eva and Jean Bercut, daughter and son-in-law of Harry and Gussie Friend.

Jean Bercut, husband of Eva Bercut (nee Friend), [and co-founder of the famous Bercut Brothers Meat Market of San Francisco].

Eva Friend Bercut, born 1901 - died 2002.  A centenarian with 101 years on her belt when she passed.  Wearing, in this photo, what looks like a Spanish mantilla in a very 1950s pose.

The funerary boxes for Harry Friend and his son-in-law Jean Bercut, both have masonic badges engraved on the front.  A newspaper article in the San Mateo Times of October 22 1927 confirmed that Harry Friend waa indeed a Mason who had been inducted into the Islam Temple of the Mystic Shrine in San Francisco.

At the beginning of the 20th century almost 1 in 10 men belonged to a freemason association.  The affiliation provided men who were already leaders or active in their communities with business contacts and networks which transcended cultural prejudices and superstitions.

After the devastation of the 1906 earthquake and the aftermath of the First World War of 1914-18, the Shriners civic-minded values sought to rebuild and contribute to their communities on a grand scale, building hospitals, schools and more.  While monotheistic, they were typically non-denominational, enjoying membership from many religions.  And the Bay Area, according to Jweekly.com, was "one of the least anti-semitic regions". (Harry Friend was a Prussian Jewish émigré.)
 
The "Islam Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine" or "mosque" on 650 Geary where Harry Friend was inducted is a wonderful arabesque of a building, inspired by the Alhambra of Granada in Spain.  Built in 1918, it remained in use by the Shriners until 1972, when operational maintenance and funding needs necessitated a move to another location in the city, with the Shriners finally settling on new headquarters in San Mateo in 1994.  Their original building on Geary still stands, and is one of San Francisco's most visually interesting and architecturally stunning buildings.  Today it is used by the Alcazar Theatre.



In recognition of the anti-islamist sensitivity and political repercussions following the 9/11 tragedy, the San Francisco lodge changed its name in 2002 from Islam Temple to the Asiya Shriners of San Mateo.

On a final note, Woodlawn Cemetery in Colma, is also famously known as the  Masonic Cemetery.   In 1901, in order to make room for the building of the University of San Francisco, the remains of those who had originally been buried in the Masonic Cemetery, (1864-1901), on Masonic Street, were moved out of the city to Woodlawn Cemetery in Colma.  The tombstones of the original San Francisco plots were used as fill on the approaches to the Golden Gate Bridge.

If you pay a visit to Woodlawn Memorial park don't be surprised by the extent of Masonic insignia.  Its an interesting place to wander around on a Memorial Day afternoon, while remembering those who have gone before us.

And a fitting resting place for Harry Friend. 
References:

1. Newspapers.com archive:  obituary for Gussie Friend, San Mateo Times, page 31 November 5 1974.
2. Woodlawn Cemetery, Colma, California
3. Findagrave.com:  Search and Reference Information on Woodlawn Cemetery  
4. Jewish Weekly News of Northern California.   Jews and Freemasons - a not so secret brotherhood:  http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/20507/jews-and-freemasons-a-not-so-secret-brotherhood/ 
5. Patheos - http://www.patheos.com/blogs/altmuslim/2002/09/shriner_clubs_change_names_due_to_anti_islamic_sentiments/
6. San Francisco City Guides: 650 Geary - http://www.sfcityguides.org/public_guidelines.html?srch_text=Isadora+Duncan&submit=Search&submitted2=TRUE%2F
7. Timeshutter.com: Islam Temple AAONMS, San Francisco CA, 1910 - http://www.timeshutter.com/image/islam-temple-aaonms-san-francisco-cal
8. SFCurbed.com; The Landmarks: #195 The Alcazar Theater on Geary Street: http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2013/12/16/the_landmarks_195_the_alcazar_theater_on_geary_street.php