Retired banker proclaimed a Knight of St John in the name of the Queen

Former president and CEO of the Dime Bank of New Jersey, Thomas H. Van Arsdale. Photo By Mike Spencer

To this day, the reigining British monarch serves as “sovereign head” of the Knights of St. John. The queen’s cousin, Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, serves as “grand prior,” or chief executive.

Wilmington retiree proclaimed a knight

starnewsonline.com | Nov 17, 2008

By Ben Steelman

He doesn’t have a suit of armor, he doesn’t carry a sword, and you don’t have to call him “Sir.” Nevertheless, Thomas H. Van Arsdale of Wilmington is a real, live, honest-to-goodness knight – and he has the medal and parchment to prove it.

Retired banker Thomas H. Van Arsdale of Wilmington is a newly minted knight of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. The ancient order is a modern-day charity, and the knighthood is an honor for community work.

Van Arsdale became an official knight of grace in the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in an investiture ceremony Nov. 8 at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

Since Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain is the “sovereign head” of the order, Van Arsdale’s new title officially was published in The London Gazette, the British court’s official journal of record. He received his knighthood in Her Majesty’s name from the head of the order’s priory, or chapter, for the United States.

“Well, my wife calls me a knight-mare,” Van Arsdale joked.

Founded more than 900 years ago (with a few breaks since), the Knights of St. John, also known as the Knights Hospitallers, guarded pilgrims and fought in the Crusades.

Modern Hospitallers normally don’t ride horses, but they still perform good deeds, usually in the form of charity. Membership, which is by invitation only, often recognizes community service.

In that respect, Van Arsdale – “Call me Tom,” he usually says – can be said to have earned his spurs.

The retired banker, who moved to Wilmington with his wife Susette in 1999, has been chairman of the trustees of the Cameron Art Museum, a trustee of Cape Fear Academy, treasurer of the St. James Parish Foundation, and a director of the Community Foundation of Southeastern North Carolina. He also mentors students at the University of North Carolina Wilmington through the Senior Business Network at UNCW’s Cameron School of Business.

Van Arsdale, a former president and CEO of the Dime Bank of New Jersey, was living in Pennsylvania when he found out about the order from a friend and from one of the Episcopal priests at St. Thomas Church in New York. Both men were members, and they proposed him for membership.

Over the years, Van Arsdale rose through the lower grades of the chivalric organization, serving successively as an esquire, a serving brother, an officer and a commander.

He said he had no idea he was going to be promoted until he received a heavily embossed formal letter from the priory this summer.

The modern-day order traces its roots back to warrior-monks who guarded Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land and maintained a hospice, or hospital, for them in Jerusalem. The order was officially recognized by Pope Paschal II in 1113. The black-robed order was a rival to the Knights Templar. (In formal ceremonies, Van Arsdale and other knights still wear a black mantle, or cloak, bearing the white, eight-pointed star that is their emblem.)

Although the order had been suppressed in England by King Henry VIII, some visionaries began attempting to revive it in Great Britain as early as the 1830s. Queen Victoria granted a charter to its British Grand Priory in 1887.

To this day, the reigining British monarch serves as “sovereign head” of the Knights of St. John. The queen’s cousin, Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, serves as “grand prior,” or chief executive.

In the modern world, the order functions mainly as a charity. In Great Britain and the Commonwealth, it is the parent body of the St. John Ambulance service, “which is kind of like a rescue squad or the Red Cross,” Van Arsdale said. One St. John’s ambulance unit from Hong Kong helped provide first aid and medical assistance at the Beijing Olympics.

In line with its heritage, the order also sponsors an eye hospital in Jerusalem, as well as clinics and medical centers for the poor in the West Bank and Gaza.

“Twenty percent of the people in that area have some kind of vision problem, glaucoma or blindness or whatever,” Van Arsdale said, “so it’s very much needed.”

Worldwide, the order has about 25,000 members. Its American branch, which was promoted to a priory in 1996, is a major fund-raising organization with about 1,100 members.

The Knights of St. John are considered a royal order of chivalry but are not a British state institution like the Order of the Garter. Members are not entitled to carry the title “Sir” – although they are eligible for a coat of arms – and while American members show respect to the British crown, they do not pledge allegiance.

The order is close to the Church of England and the American Protestant Episcopal Church, but membership is ecumenical and even non-Christians are admitted.

One of Van Arsdale’s biggest thrills was attending a 900th anniversary celebration by the order in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London: “You could see all these knights from all over the world,” he said, “in all their different robes.”

These days, even ladies can be knights – or “dames.”

Susette Van Arsdale is an officer in the order, and she and her husband are among the relatively few husband-and-wife members.

For more information, go to http://www.orderofstjohn.org. or http://www.saintjohn.org.