Church honor in order for area pair

Two area men who have exhibited a spirit of service to others will receive the highest honor the Catholic Church can bestow upon a lay member when they become Knights of Malta in New York City today.Harvey F. Rowe of Lynn and John A. “Jack” Granese Jr. of Marblehead will be inducted this afternoon into the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta at a Mass of solemn investiture at St. Patrick?s Cathedral. The Mass will be celebrated by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York and chaplain for the American Association of the Order of Malta.?It?s overwhelming; I?m very honored,” said Granese, who, like Rowe, was sponsored for the honor by Lynn funeral director David J. Solimine Sr. “I hope I can live up to the values the Knights have.”?It?s something I?m really excited about,” said Rowe, who recently completed a term as president of the board of directors at My Brother?s Table, a Lynn soup kitchen.The Order of Malta is a worldwide, lay, religious order of the Catholic Church that dates back almost 1,000 years. The primary mission is to tend to the sick and the poor, and defend the Catholic faith.Granese, a 1959 St. Mary?s graduate and Navy veteran who retired a year ago from his family?s construction company, N. Granese and Sons of Salem, has been a longtime supporter of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, My Brother?s Table and his parish, Holy Family in Lynn.?I help where I can,” he said. “We do a lot of good at Holy Family and we have a great pastor (the Rev. Greg Mercurio).”Mercurio was one of about 30 people who traveled to New York by coach bus Wednesday with Granese, Rowe, their families and Solimine. He will concelebrate today?s Mass.Rowe, an attorney who operates Panakio Adjusters in Lynn with his wife, Lisa Panakio Rowe, has made several service trips over the last 15 years, traveling to Ecuador, Mexico and Appalachia to tend to the sick and poor. A visit to a hospice in Ecuador run by the Missionaries of Charity – a religious order founded by Mother Teresa -? made a lasting impact on him.?The people they serve are people they pick up off the street with no family,” Rowe said. “To work in there a few days changes your outlook on life. You look poor people and sick people in the eye and you can?t help but feel the world should think of what we can do to even things out.”Rowe grew up in Malden and moved to Nahant before his senior year at Malden Catholic, graduating in 1959. He graduated from Merrimack College and served in the Navy for five years. He worked for Naval intelligence after being discharged, and attended law school on the GI Bill. He worked as a state assistant attorney general under Robert Quinn, also a Knight of Malta, who died earlier this year.Solimine, who was inducted as a Knight of Malta in 1995 along with his friend and fellow funeral director, the late Walter A. Cuffe Jr., said he was honored to sponsor Granese and Rowe.?I?ve known both of them a long time. They are decent, honorable, good guys,” Solimine said.Following today?s Mass, there will be a reception and white-tie dinner at the Waldorf Astoria.