Who Moved Zack Masker's Memorial?

On May 30, 1942, Franklin Lakes held its first Memorial Day Parade, starting at the old Borough Hall on Pulis Avenue (currently the Board of Education, but also the first firehouse in the borough), up Franklin Avenue, down to Colonial Road to High Mountain Road and the Masker Memorial.

Built in 1928 in honor of Zachariah Masker, the only Franklin Lakes-area resident to die in World War I, the memorial sat nearby the Crystal Lake Inn. It was constructed of local field stones and included a bronze oval tablet with his name and date of death. "At the base was a lion's head, through which a stream of water flowed," local historian and author Jack Goudsward told Patch.  "Memorial Day celebrations were held at this memorial until 1962."

That year, a portion of the Masker Memorial moved to Fireman's Field, where it was rebuilt as a concrete block with the lions head attached to it. It remained at Fireman's Field for many years, before eventually being removed. 

Today, its original site is "beneath an earthen berm for Route 208," Goudsward noted. The original plaque and the lion's head are both with the VFW as part of its WWI exhibit. 

Born in Campgaw (a section of Franklin Lakes that predates the borough's founding in 1922) to a family of early American Pioneers, Masker was working as a caretaker on the MacKenzie Estate on Franklin Lake, and living at Crystal Lake (as the then-other-side of Franklin Lakes was called) with his sister, Catherine Israel,when he was drafted into World War I, according to historical information Doug Nerilack of VFW Post 5702 shared with Patch. 

PFC Masker served as a machine gunner in Company D of the 114th Regiment, 57th Brigade, 29th Division. After several months on the front lines, he went over a bunker in the Battle of Bois D’ Ormont East of Verdun and got his gun into action, when he was struck in the shoulder with a one-pound shell. He died  on Oct. 12, 1918. His company lost 24 men that day, and 76 were wounded. 

Masker is on the Memorial Honor Roll of both Franklin Lakes and Wyckoff, according to Council President Paulette Ramsey, member of the Franklin Lakes Historical Society. He is buried at the cemetery at Wyckoff Reformed Church where a memorial tree was also planted in his honor. 

He is also listed on the new memorial plaque the VFW donated to the borough at Monday's Memorial Day celebration. The plaque will hang in Borough Hall. 

Editor's note: Special thanks to all of the historians of Franklin Lakes, especially those who helped with information. If you have photos or old stories you'd like to share with Patch about Franklin Lakes, please email Rebecca.Abma@patch.com or call 201-783-7089 and leave a detailed message.