From The East February 2025

Hello Brethren.

I am Jeffrey David Reinsch, Worshipful Master of Pentalpha Lodge #194 for 2025. It is an honor to have been found worthy to lead you this year. I have been a member of Pentalpha for only 4 years so I felt it would be beneficial for those of you who have not met me yet to get to know a little more about me. Therefore, I will open my year by giving you, my Brethren, a brief autobiography which I hope will bring us closer together.

I was born in Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Marland on November 23, 1963 to John Harry Reinsch and Sandra Jean Schreffler. Subsequently, I was joined by my two sisters, Shannon and Marianna, in 1966 and 1968, respectively. Eventually we settled in Arlington, Virginia, where we lived for the next few years. It was while living here that I began attending school. However, shortly thereafter my parents divorced.

Over the next few years we moved quite often, eventually getting a house in Martinsburg, West Virginia where I was to begin fourth grade. Then, on September 2, 1974, while out for the evening, my mother and her then boyfriend were involved in an automobile accident and my mother passed away. That evening, my father, whom I had not seen for 5 years, came and we went to live with him in Gaithersburg, Maryland. We discovered he had remarried and my sisters and I had a half-sister, Mellissa, age 2. Later that year my stepmother gave birth to my second half-sister Megan. However, our stay was short-lived because on September 2, 1975 my father took his own life. During my teenage years my sisters and I were raised by legal guardians while my half-sisters remained with my stepmother.

I graduated from Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville, Maryland in 1982 and a year later I enlisted in the US Army as an airborne infantryman in the 82nd Airborne Division. I served 4 years. Following my time in the service, I lived in Maryland, North Carolina, Florida and Maine; eventually returning to Maryland.

In 1994 I met Maria Hubenette, a Swedish au pair. We fell in love and when she had to return home, I applied for and was granted residency in Sweden in 1995. Later that year we were blessed with the birth of my first son Erik. We married in 1996 in the Stockholm Cathedral and in 1998 our second son, Alex, was born. We lived in Sweden for a total of 4 years. In 1999, we moved the family to Germantown where we have lived ever since. Following my return to the States, I began my career in the telecommunications field. Also, in 2003, my third son Adam was born. Unfortunately, my first marriage did not last and we divorced in 2015 after 19 years.

I continued on my career path while raising my 3 sons alone and in time advanced to a network engineer position at The George Washington University where I currently work. In 2015 I met Nobuyo Sakata and after 4 years together we married in 2019. Since which time, all my children have moved out so I am officially an empty-nester. My wife Nobuyo, my wire-hair dachshund Otto and I have a happy uneventful life for the most part.

I hope this helps you get to know me better. Now that you have gotten to know a little about me, I would like to get to know more about each of you, my fellow Pentalpha Brethren. Therefore, I cordially invite all of you to please come to the Lodge so we can meet personally. We are Brothers. We are family. The Lodge is the members, you and me, not the building. Help me make this a fantastic year for you.

Thank you for putting your trust in me.

Jeffrey Reinsch, WM