In Memoriam
On Lord Baden-Powell’s tombstone is a simple circle with a dot, a trail sign from the early 1900s indicating the end of the trail and a safe return home. This symbol now honors our departed Scouters.
If you know of any member of our scouting family who has passed, please click here to include them on this page. The submission form will request their name, scouting position(s), date called home, and a photo. For inquiries about the in-memoriam process, contact Cory Kercher at Cory.Kercher@scouting.org.
Camp Tuckahoe Memorial Mall
In 1922, Scout Executive Ray Zaner proposed planting a living memorial tree at Camp Ganoga to honor deceased Scouts and Scouters, inspired by a poem by Joyce Kilmer. Over the years, numerous memorial trees were planted, but this practice paused in 1945 when the camp closed.
With the opening of Camp Tuckahoe in 1948, Chief Zaner revived the tradition of memorial tree planting. The altar from Ganoga, made of 12 field stones inscribed with the Scout Laws, was relocated to Camp Tuckahoe, accompanied by a bronze monument detailing the original memorial trees and honoring those commemorated.
The chapel at the top of Memorial Mall was built by Scouts to honor Rabbi Alexander D. Goode, a chaplain who perished in the sinking of the “Dorchester.” Rabbi Goode was a registered Scouter with the York-Adams Area Council at the time of his heroic sacrifice.
Both the chapel and the memorial tree planting serve as lasting tributes to the Scouts and Scouters of York and Adams Counties who have passed away.
Dave Glatfelter, a notable figure in the council and the Venturing program, was instrumental in maintaining the mall. Following his death, he generously bequeathed funds for its upkeep.
The Memorial Mall service at Camp Tuckahoe remains a significant annual ceremony for the New Birth of Freedom Council.