Honoring Our Front-Line Heroes
This fall, the Scottish Rite, NMJ is honoring our first responders. Our Brothers who serve and save others truly exemplify our core value of Service to Humanity. From the September 11 attacks to the COVID-19 global pandemic, first responders have always been the front-line heroes of our communities. Each week, we’ll be sharing their stories and celebrating their service.
Meet Brother Kenneth Hudson Sr., 32°: Flight Paramedic and ER Nurse
Discover more stories like Kenneth’s when you request a member of our First Responders Speakers Bureau to present at one of your Masonic events.
Brother Kenneth Hudson Sr., 32° from the Valleys of Harrisburg and Lancaster often wears a T-shirt which reads on the back: “Hazmat Technician. If you see me running, run the other way.” This may be true at the scene of an accident or spill, but people are more likely to flock to Ken and his big heart.
“I like people,” he said. “I like to help and offer a service.”
Working as a firefighter was a childhood dream which, in retrospect, Brother Hudson says he may have started the wrong way.
Brother Kenneth Hudson in uniform
As an 8-year-old growing up in Philadelphia, he would pull the fire alarm in the building where his family lived just to see the fire trucks show up outside his home. After doing this several times one week, a lieutenant firefighter approached Brother Hudson as he sat outside and watched and asked if he knew who pulled the alarm.
“I told him it was me. My mom came outside and was ready to yell at me, when he invited me to the fire station,” he recalls. He spent a lot of time at the station as a youth.
He later attended Temple University where he studied film and editing. For one of his assignments, he edited Channel 6’s minority program, “Check It Out,” which included stories on the fire station. He took some training and started work with the Philadelphia Fire Department in 1966.
He battled countless blazes during his tenure as a firefighter, saving lives in the process, although he doesn’t often reflect on these memories. Recently, he came across a newspaper article describing how he carried a 12-year-old boy out of a burning building – an event he doesn’t specifically recall.
“Your mind has a way of erasing things, although some images can’t be erased,” Brother Hudson said. “You end up doing a lot of routine things. It’s a job, and you need to recognize the harmful aspects of it. But you also have to try and not take things so seriously that they have a personal effect on you, or you won’t be able to get the job done.”
Part of being a firefighter is attending training – lots of it. Brother Hudson’s transition from firefighting to hazmat required nine certifications. He continued his training until he became the trainer himself.
Now, he’s instructed over 6,700 students and has shared his knowledge at international conferences. According to his estimate, only three other instructors in Pennsylvania have their own hazardous materials technician training company, aside from colleges and public safety training centers. While he no longer travels due to some health issues, he continues helping others in a different way. He now serves as the assistant chief for Hazmat 2 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
As the day duty officer, he is the first one from hazmat on the scene. There, he assesses whether the situation requires deploying an entire team. Some chemicals, like diesel, may not be a hazard. Others, like ammonia and chlorine, require a team of hazmat technicians dressed in head-to-toe protective gear. Federal and state laws require anyone transporting hazardous materials to be equipped to clean up any spills, but hazmat ensures there’s no danger to the general public.
“I have 50+ years of service under my belt,” he said. “This kind of work keeps me busy and alert, so I keep doing it. I’ve made a lot of connections and built a good reputation.”
Brother Hudson became a Mason after a good friend introduced him to the fraternity. He joined Lodge No. 43, Lancaster, in 2016. Similar to the brotherhood he experienced as a firefighter, Freemasonry offers him fellowship and the opportunity to help others.
Brother Hudson dressed for Masonic business
“I fell in love with the Masons,” he said. “I just love what they stand for. I had heard negative things about the fraternity, but I’ve since had my eyes opened and haven’t had a single negative experience.”
Hudson also belongs to the Tall Cedars, Royal Arch and Knights Templar and is a 32° Scottish Rite Freemason. As an ordained minister, he serves as his lodge’s assistant chaplain and fills in wherever needed. He’s working on finishing four papers for the Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge – a task he has more time for now that he lives at the Masonic Village at Elizabethtown.
Brother Hudson in his Masonic regalia
“I always took care of my family and didn’t have time to do a lot of other things,” the father of six said. “Now, it’s time to focus on myself.”
There’s a lot he wants to do, all revolving around his favorite pastime: helping others.
This article was originally printed in the Fall 2018 issue of the Masonic Villages’ Village Voice magazine as “A Heart To Serve.”
First Responders Speakers Bureau
We have many first responders among our Scottish Rite brethren. Learn more about these brave men of courage and service in our series of profiles we will feature this fall. In fact, a First Responders Speakers Bureau has been established, and our Brothers profiled here are just a few who are available by request to present at your local event.
Visit the Leadership Resource Center where you can download the Speakers Bureau Directory which lists the available speakers in your state.