Scouts from the Theodore Roosevelt Council Boy Scouts of America are mourning the passing of two local Scouting legends—Justice Antonin Scalia and Msgr. Thomas J. Hartman—both of whom were longtime avid supporters and friends of the Nassau County, Long Island-based Council.
Theodore Roosevelt Council President Steven M. Grosskopf said, “We are saddened by the passing of two nationally prominent individuals, who always maintained their close support and friendship of the Girl and Boy Scouts in our Council. Their longtime kindness and dedication to the Nassau County Boy Scouting program is something that will remain with us forever.”
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died last Saturday, was a Cub Scout, Boy Scout and member of BSA’s Order of the Arrow National Honor Society.
His mother, Catherine, served as a Cub Scout Den Mother during Justice Scalia’s boyhood in Queens. In later years, Catherine Scalia moved to nearby Baldwin, in Nassau County, where her son visited her frequently.
Scalia became closely associated with the Theodore Roosevelt Council (TRC). He generously donated time and financial support to BSA’s TRC, attending many of its annual dinners with his mother at his side. At one such dinner, the TRC made him its honoree and presented Justice Scalia with BSA’s coveted Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.
Msgr. Tom Hartman, the nationally syndicated co-columnist, author and TV personality of The God Squad, with his longtime friend, Rabbi Marc Gellman, passed away last Tuesday night after a long bout with Parkinson’s Disease. Like Justice Scalia, Msgr. Hartman was a longtime supporter and friend of TRC’s scouting programs and was a strong presence at the Council’s summer camps, weekend camporees and special events.
“For over four decades, beginning with his first assignment as a priest at nearby St. James R.C. Church in Seaford, the Rev. Msgr. Tom Hartman was a key member of our scouting community and we miss his cheerful, handsome smile, gleaming eyes and wonderful, inspirational personality,” said Grosskopf. “Both he and Justice Scalia remain in our hearts, thoughts and prayers.”
The BSA’s Theodore Roosevelt Council, which is one of the oldest and largest in North America, represents every Boy, Cub and Venture Scout in Nassau County, or 10,500 boys ages 7 through 20 and girls ages 14 through 20. It also owns and operates two large, year-round Scout camps in the Catskill Mountains and on eastern Long Island, as well as a STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Math) Educational Center and Lab for all school-aged youth at its Massapequa, headquarters. Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, who was a member of BSA Troop 39 in his Nassau County hometown of Oyster Bay served as the Council’s first Commissioner in 1917.
