Michael D. Robinson 32° KCCH, earned his degree in History at Colorado State University. He was the second Master Mason Raised in Esoterika Lodge #227, and the first member Raised in that Lodge to serve as Worshipful Master. He was presented with the Hiram Award by Esoterika Lodge in 2012, and was elected Master in 2013 and 2014. He served as District Deputy for District #13 in 2016-17 and 2017-18, and was appointed Grand Historian for 2018-19. He is also serving as Historian for Research Lodge #198 and Eugene Lodge #11. Brother Robinson received the Scottish Rite degrees in 2010 and was the recipient of the “Novus Astorum” from the Portland Valley Scottish Rite that year. He was appointed Historian of the Scottish Rite Orient of Oregon in December of 2014. In March of 2015 he was made Secretary of the Eugene Valley, and Director of the Work for that Valley in January of 2017.
If you weren’t able to attend Portland Valley’s Reunion, you missed one of the greatest reunions in a very long time. Congratulation to all the Stage crew, Wardrobe, Make- up, Lighting, Sound, Special effects, K.S.A., Photographer, Servers, Class conductors, Portland’s administrators, and Cast members. Fantastic job my Brothers!
The stage crew was down to three people and they hit the mark every time. Working the stage, sound, lighting, make-up, and wardrobe is very hard work and you came through with flying colors. K.S.A. and others also work very hard without applause or admiration, I say to you, thank you, thank you, and thank you!
Now the cast members, who put their lives on hold to rehearse, learn their lines, work on blocking, and put their hearts and souls into the degrees. Thank you for a beautiful job well done. The old timers came through with their usual great performances. The excitement and performance was nothing short of being perfect! What I am very excited about are all the newer members who participated and helped in every way. Thank you!
Welcome to our newest members and I encourage all of you to get involved and experience what the Scottish Rite is all about.
Finally, I am so very proud of each of you for your fabulous work. This reunion reminded me of years pass when everyone worked very hard to impress upon the candidates the lessons of the Scottish Rite.
The Portland Valley Reunion and New Member Initiation this Spring is being held on Friday April 19th & Saturday April 20th, 2019. As a reminder this year we will not have a Fall Reunion due to Honors on November 2nd.
The Scottish Rite in Oregon began in Portland in 1870 headed by the first Sovereign Grand Inspector General, John C. Ainsworth, 33°, who has been followed by eleven other Honorable Masons holding that office up to the present S.G.I.G. Illustrious Brother Gary Kuney, 33º Active, appointed in 2009.
The Scottish Rite is often called the College of Masonry and this Spring we will be having a Class of new Candidates to join us in the quest for further Masonic Light. The ritual of the Scottish Rite comprises twenty-nine degrees, the fourth through the thirty-second, each of which, in the dramatic form of a vaudeville era Shakespearean style moral play, presents lessons of high purpose developing the moral character of the individual.
The theater here was built expressly for these degree presentations. Our Temple in the Historic Goose Hollow Neighborhood is the first building exclusively designed and built for the Scottish Rite Degrees and was used as a model for other Scottish Rite buildings throughout the world. It was the great architectural vision of Brother Richard H Martin, Jr., 33º, who designed several other Fraternal Buildings in downtown. It is unique in still having over ninety hand painted stage drops available for the degree presentations. They were painted in the early 1900’s and are known for their outstanding perspective. The drops and fly system accompanying them are some of the best preserved in the country of their type and age. Our Temple, along with being the last vaudeville era stage still in active use in Oregon, is also the oldest building in downtown Portland still occupied by its original inhabitants, the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.
Click here to download application: full-page-petition
Rite Movie Night! Tuesday, April 16th at 7pm the Portland Valley Scottish Rite will have a movie night in the Ballroom.
The feature for the evening will be the full length Discovery Channel documentary film Hunting the Lost Symbol.
“This documentary takes the viewer on a journey through the secret codes, architecture and symbols in Dan Brown’s novel The Lost Symbol. Also examined are secret societies and new science describing what’s myth and what’s real. Scientist, code breakers, psychologists and historians are interviewed.”
Schedule Doors open at 6:00 pm for a social. The feature will start at 7:00 pm and the run time is 2 hours. The 18th Degree will also be having its Dress Rehearsal at 7pm.
This event is open to all Masons and their Families and Friends. As with all our events this is not open to the general public.
NOTE: There will be snacks but no meal for this event; make sure you dine before arrival. Dress is casual.
At their Stated meeting on March 25, 2019 the Brethren of Eugene Valley Scottish Rite had the pleasure of presenting Col. Dick Heyman with a 50 year cap. We were, however, rather late to the party so to speak as Brother Heyman has been a member of the Scottish Rite since September 17, 1952, or 66 ½ years ago.
(left to right) Art McGhehey, Venerable Master, Col. Dick Heyman, Ill. Bro. Dale Vanderpool PR Eugene Valley.
Richard Michael Heyman, Jr. was born on May 25, 1924 in Coffeyville, Kansas. Seven days after his 18th birthday he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps on June 2, 1942, and was commissioned an officer on July 28, 1943. In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, preceding the morning invasion, he flew escort with the 101st Airborne. Flying back to refuel he returned to cover the invasion in the morning. He was a member of the 364th Fighter Group which flew 342 missions in P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs from Honington, Suffolk, England. The missions ranged from escorting bombers and dive-bombing and strafing targets to area patrol missions across a swathe of land that took in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. After converting to P-51 Mustangs, the Group also flew long-range bomber escort missions, winning a Distinguished Unit Citation for their defense of B-17 Flying Fortresses on a mission to Frankfurt on 27 December 1944.
Richard Heyman WWII ca. 1944
Dick was Raised a Master Mason in Bartlesville Lodge #284 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma in 1947. Bartlesville is about 46 miles north of Tulsa and 47 miles southwest of Coffeyville, Kansas. He continued his service to the Country flying during the Korean Conflict. After that war ended he determined he finally had the resources to join the Scottish Rite. He received the Scottish Rite degrees 4° – 18° on September 16 and the 19° – 32° on September 17, 1952 in Gutherie, Oklahoma. At that time he was a Captain in the United States Air Force and was living in Stillwater, Oklahoma. When the war started in Vietnam Dick continued his service to his Country and had a distinguished flying career during that conflict.
Dick Heyman Vietnam ca. 1967
Lieutenant Colonel Richard M. Heyman, United States Air Force, was awarded a Third Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a Fourth Award of the Distinguished Flying Cross for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight while serving with the 388th Combat Support Group in Southeast Asia on 4 February 1967. Among his achievements during an outstanding career of service to his Country he received the following Awards:
Air Medal with 13 oak leaf clusters (2 silver, 3 bronze)
American Campaign Medal
Army of Occupation Medal
Distinguished Flying Cross with 3 oak leaf clusters
Korean Service Medal
Legion of Merit
National Defense Service Medal
Silver Star
United Nations Service Medal
World War II Victory Medal
Croix de Guerre (French)
Air Force Commendation Medal
Air Force Longevity Service Award with 6 oak leaf clusters (1 silver, 1 bronze)
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 4 bronze stars.
Dick lives in Creswell with his wife of 59 years, Barbara. He is still active in his community having served on the Creswell City Council for a number of years, and attends his Blue Lodge and Scottish Rite whenever he can.
The Research Lodge of Oregon #198, in conjunction with its sponsorship by the Oregon Scottish Rite is planning an interview with Brother Heyman, and he is scheduled to share some of his stories at the next Stated communication of the Lodge of Perfection in Eugene on April 22, 2019.
About the author:
Michael D. Robinson 32° KCCH, earned his degree in History at Colorado State University. He was the second Master Mason Raised in Esoterika Lodge #227, and the first member Raised in that Lodge to serve as Worshipful Master. He was presented with the Hiram Award by Esoterika Lodge in 2012, and was elected Master in 2013 and 2014. He served as District Deputy for District #13 in 2016-17 and 2017-18, and was appointed Grand Historian for 2018-19. He is also serving as Historian for Research Lodge #198 and Eugene Lodge #11. Brother Robinson received the Scottish Rite degrees in 2010 and was the recipient of the “Novus Astorum” from the Portland Valley Scottish Rite that year. He was appointed Historian of the Scottish Rite Orient of Oregon in December of 2014. In March of 2015 he was made Secretary of the Eugene Valley, and Director of the Work for that Valley in January of 2017.
William Grabach was born on July 20, 1857 in Fremont, Sandusky, Ohio. He was the son of Augustus Grabach and his wife Maria Elisabetha Setzler. Augustus Grabach was born in Germany in 1818. At the age of 22 he boarded the ship Graville in La Havre, France and sailed to New York City, arriving on May 31, 1840. He married Elizabeth Setzler by 1842 and settled in Ohio, where all of their children were born. Maria Elisabetha Setzler was born on November 16, 1821 in München, Bavaria (Bayern), Germany and came to the United States in 1834. She had 10 children, 8 of whom were still living in 1900. Augustus had a small farm in Fremont, Sandusky, Ohio, valued at $200 in 1850, but increased his holdings to $1,000 in Real Estate by 1860 when they were recorded in as living in Adams, Seneca, Ohio. He got a fever in March of 1860 and died a week later on March 16th. He was said to have been a Master Mason on the census at the time of his death. His eldest son John was a Masonic Apprentice on the 1860 census. This undoubtedly refers to operative Masonry and John was likely apprenticing with his father at the time. They must have just moved to Adams, as the probate papers for August said the deceased was formally of Fremont, but he died in Adams (Adams is about 10 miles from Fremont and about 8 miles from Clyde). William was not yet 3 years old when his father died. Soon after the Civil War broke out, William’s older brother’s John and Augustus joined Company D of the 3rd Ohio Veteran Volunteer Cavalry regiment. From 1862 to 1865 they fought in many major engagements including Gallatin, Murfreesboro, Stones River, Chickamauga and Kennesaw Mountain. Augustus was captured by Confederate forces at Lovejoy Station on August 20, 1864, he died in 1869. John moved to Portland, Oregon and was a member of the Portland GAR Post 12. In 1870 the family was found on the census as Greyback. They were mostly still in Adams, Seneca, Ohio, with John having left the household and Augustus dying on May 13, 1869. Elizabeth had increased the family holdings to $2,000 in Real Estate, with $400 in personal assets. George was now 21 and was working as a Day Laborer; Philip age 17 was a Farm Laborer and William age 14 was a Salesman, Charles age 12 was still in school.
William Grabach was not found on the 1880 Census, which leaves a 30 year gap in the Federal record (1870-1900). Piecing together what happed during that time was a challenge as William seems to have moved frequently. As best as can be determined William Grabach married Maggie Harrison in about 1882. The couple had three known children: Maggie May in 1883, William in 1885 and Paul born on January 2, 1886[1] in Clyde, Sandusky, Ohio. According to her marriage record Maggie May Grabach was born in Springfield, Illinois in 1883. There is a Decorator named William Grabach living at 295 English Ave. in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1884, but we have no proof it is the same man. The Directories for Clyde, Ohio for 1886 and 1887 show that during this time William and his younger brother Charles were working under the name “William Grabach and Brother”. They offered practical fresco work and scenery for Opera house and theatrical companies.[2] There is another Directory record that shows a William Grabach, Painter rooming at 82 Abbott in Detroit, Michigan in 1891. Here again the connection is tenuous. It is apparent that William relocated often, he was said to have been in Missouri, and he was certainly in Minnesota for a while. By 1896 William had gone to Omaha, Nebraska, where he was a Scenic Artist at the Creighton Theatre. He was living at 1817 Davenport in Omaha. “The current site of the Omaha Orpheum Theatre was previously home to the Creighton Theater. John A. McShane organized a stock company to build the original theater in 1895. The architects for the original theater were Fisher & Lawrie and the general contractors were Rocheford & Gould. Paxton and Vierling installed the iron curtain that weighed 11 tons. The theater was named after John A. Creighton, a local philanthropist, and a large portrait of Count Creighton decorated the proscenium arch. The Creighton Theater was eventually added to the Orpheum Circuit, which by 1900 had expanded to nine western cities: Omaha, Chicago, Kansas City, New Orleans, Denver, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento. The reference to Creighton was eventually dropped from the theater’s name.” [3] The 1897 Julius Cahn’s Official Theatre Guide shows William Grabach was doing the Scenic work for both the Creighton and Boyd Theatres. In 1898 the Artist William Grabach was residing at 203 24th St. in Omaha The 1900 Census shows that Maggie Harrison was no longer in the picture, and it is assumed she died. A record in Butler, Ohio shows that a William Grabach married Carrie Zeller on February 10, 1887. It is not clear if this was the wife of William Grabach shown on the 1900 census, but what can be decrypted is questionably consistent with the possibility.
Boyd Theatre, Omaha, Nebraska CA. 1900
On June 23, 1899 Maggie May the daughter of William Grabach and his wife Maggie (Harrison) was married in Glenwood, Mills, Iowa, which is about 15 miles from Omaha. It is from this record that we learned the name of the mother of William Grabach’s children. Maggie Grabach, was born in Springfield, Illinois, according to her marriage. She married John L. Glazier, a Newspaperman living in Omaha.
The 1900 Census shows that the wife of William Grabach, whose name is difficult to decipher, had no children and the couple had been married for about 12 years. Also in the household was a son Paul Grabach, born February 1884. This record shows that the birthplace of Paul and his father William was New York. This was most certainly not the case. William’s birthdate is also wrong and is shown at Jan. 1855 and Paul’s birthdate was January 1886 not Feb. 1884. We might suspect that we are on the wrong track; however, later records rejected that theory, and the Census records are notorious for having erroneous information.
1900 U.S. Census Omaha, Nebraska
William Grabach was in Omaha through 1901, and then it appears he went to Chicago. On July 20, 1903 William Grabach married to Romelia M. Burton Hayes. William was living in Chicago, Illinois and Romelia lived across Lake Michigan in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The wedding took place in nearby St. Josephs, Michigan. William is noted to be the son of August Grabach and a Scenic Artist, and his bride was born in Minnesota. Each were said to have been married once before, but in the case of William it appears it should be twice previous. It is believed that Grabach worked for Sosman & Landis while in Chicago.
In 1905 William Grabach took his family and moved to Portland Oregon where he painted scenery for the Belasco Theatre. He opened the Pacific Coast Scenic Co. as can be seen on the back of one of the drops at the Scottish Rite in Portland and in various Directories during that time. He soon after started working for the Portland Scottish Rite, and was producing drops by 1906, if not sooner. In 1906 he was rooming at 488 Washington in Portland. His studio was at 43 14th N. in Portland, as shown in 1906-1908 records. However his residence in 1907 changed to 432 Manzanita.
His studio was at 383 ½ 5th St. in 1909. In 1910 his business and home residence was at 634 Front St. in Portland as shown in the Directories and the 1910 Census. The information for William Grabach in the 1910 Census was more accurate than in 1900, but there were still a few anomalies. His wife is listed as Emma, apparently a nickname for Romelia. William again claimed that this was his 2nd marriage, but it says that they were married for 15 years instead of 7 as would be expected. Emma is shown to have had 3 children, none of whom are living, unlike the wife of William in 1900 who had no children at all, and neither of those relationships accounting for the three children of William Grabach and their mother Maggie (Harrison). Most of the rest of William’s family were also living with him in Portland in 1910. The eldest daughter Maggie May was going by the name Marie Glazier and was a Vaudville Actress. His son William Grabach, Jr. was a Farmer living with his father and his wife Edna. William, Jr. married Edna Myrtle Hopkins on January 8, 1906 in Pueblo. Colorado. Paul Grabach again shows up but this time his birthplace was listed as Ohio. Paul worked as a stage hand and Carpenter and in 1909 he was a Flyman at the Star Theatre in Portland.
1910 Portland DirectoryThe children of August Grabach 1st row left to right -Katie, George, Lizzie, Philip 2nd row Charles and William ca. 1910Their mother Maria Elizabeth Setzler Grabach 1821-1909
The Pacific Coast Scenic Company worked up and down the Pacific Coast, as the name implies. A year before William’s death the following notice was found in the Oakland Tribune in California on September 12, 1912. The Orpheum Theatre was showing “The Call for the Wild” in Oakland and announced that the “new scenery for the production was painted by William Grabach in his Portland Studio”. Going back to 1906 William’s wife Emma was the Vice President of the Company. After his death she continued on as the President. On Wednesday July 26, 1933 The Evening Herald from Klamath Falls, Oregon noted that “Scenic Pictures of Klamath Filmed by R. R. Howard, photographer for the Pacific Coast Scenic company at Medford, has been in Klamath Falls filming prominent features of the Klamath country. The pictures have been taken exclusively for Louie Polln, who will act is agent for the company in this region. Activities of the Pacific Coast Scenic company extend through the northwest.”[1] And so the Company thrived long after Williams death. The 1920 Census shows his widow Emma was a Seamstress for the Company.
William Grabach died at his home at 634 Front St. in Portland on October 2, 1913, the following notices were placed in the papers in Portland and in Cylde, Ohio. SCENIC PAINTER IS DEAD William Grabach Succumbs to Paralysis, Aged 56 Years. A victim of paralysis, William Grabach, a noted scenic painter, died at his home in this city Thursday. Mr. Grabach was 56 years old. He came to Portland in 1905 to paint scenery for Belasco & Mayer when they opened the Belasco Theater, afterward known as the Portland and the Hellig. When they abandoned his field, Mr. Grabach remained and opened the Pacific Coast Scenic Studio, which occupies a large plant in South Portland. Sr. Grabach is survived by his widow, a son and a daughter, who is on the stage. Funeral services will be held at 12:30 P.M. Sunday at the Scottish Rite Cathedral by the Masonic Blue Lodge. [The Oregonian, 4 Oct 1913, p9]
The Clyde Enterprise October 6, 1913 Sandusky, OhioWilliam Grabach was buried in River View Cemetery, Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, in plot Sec 105, Lot 114, Grave 1. findagrave.com
Masonic History
William Grabach was Raised a Master Mason in Minnesota Lodge #224 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[1] He remained a member of that Lodge for the rest of his life. He never joined a Blue Lodge in Oregon, but he did join the Scottish Rite. He was recommended by Philip Schuyler Malcolm and was proposed and elected June 10, 1907. He received the 4° – 14° on June 10, and the 15° -32° on June 11, 1907 with the 9th Cathedral Class (16th Semi-Annual Reunion).[2] He Joined Al Kader Shrine on January 18, 1908
[1] Social Security application Dec. 1942 (Pearl/Paul) parents William Grabach and Magie Harrison.
[2] Artists in Ohio, 1787-1900: A Biographical Dictionary page 346 By Jeffrey Weidman, Oberlin College. Library also(Ohio Dir 1887, Clyde Dir. 1886).
[3] Wikipedia Orpheum Omaha. “Orpheum Theater”. The Omaha World-Herald Newspaper. Omaha, Douglas County, NE, USA. March 28, 1974.
[4] Publication: The Evening Herald Location: Klamath Falls, Oregon Issue Date: Wednesday, July 26, 1933 Page 2
[5] Portland, Oregon Scottish Rite Membership/Degree Records Vol. II 1906-1919, page 10a line 12.
[6] Ibid, page 10b line 12
About the author:
Michael D. Robinson 32° KCCH, earned his degree in History at Colorado State University. He was the second Master Mason Raised in Esoterika Lodge #227, and the first member Raised in that Lodge to serve as Worshipful Master. He was presented with the Hiram Award by Esoterika Lodge in 2012, and was elected Master in 2013 and 2014. He served as District Deputy for District #13 in 2016-17 and 2017-18, and was appointed Grand Historian for 2018-19. He is also serving as Historian for Research Lodge #198 and Eugene Lodge #11. Brother Robinson received the Scottish Rite degrees in 2010 and was the recipient of the “Novus Astorum” from the Portland Valley Scottish Rite that year. He was appointed Historian of the Scottish Rite Orient of Oregon in December of 2014. In March of 2015 he was made Secretary of the Eugene Valley, and Director of the Work for that Valley in January of 2017.
Tuesday the 19th of March, at 7:30 o’clock pm, the Portland Valley Scottish Rite will confer the 31st Degree of the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America, “Inspector Inquisitor”.
All Scottish Rite Members of the 30th° or higher are welcome to attend. Visiting Brethren will need current dues card showing membership in the Scottish Rite. Attendance is exclusively for members of the Scottish Rite, as with all of our events, this is not open to the public.
This Degree takes place in the Egyptian Court of the Dead and it is one of the most elaborate stage settings we have in the Temple’s collection.
The Duties of the Degree are; “Judge yourself in the same light as you judge others, consider both actions and motives.”
The Lessons of the Degree are; “The good man is able to portray himself and his actions positively and not simply assert the absence of wrong in his life. Justice and Mercy are two opposites which unite in the great harmony of equity. To aim at the best but be content with the best possible is true wisdom.”
Schedule
6:30 pm Dinner [Meatloaf]
7:15 pm Scottish Rite University Intro
7:30 pm Degree
After the degree there will be a cast party and Social in the Members Lounge.
Confirmations on Facebook of attendance will not be counted for dinner. Please RSVP by email to officemanager@portlandsr.com for dinner reservations by no later than 11:00 am on the Monday before the event. Any requests that come in after the cut off will go on the standby list.
I wish that, instead of talking to you across the continent by letter, I could walk this morning into Portland, and take you and Bro. Baily and a score of other dear friends by the hand. The desire to see Oregon again is very strong in me, as is the longing to pass a month in Puget’s Sound, and if our abominable Government would but borrow from some convict what little honesty remains in him, and appropriate to itself some remnant of worn-out consciences, so as to have a little common honesty and at least the rags of a decayed conscience and pay its honest debts. I would soon afterward be once more on the Pacific.
But after all, to get what is the one, not the chief object in life. I should be sorry to think it was: for, if it were, I should have lived to little purpose these last ten years.
I am so near three score and ten now, as to have no good reason to hope for more than five or six more working years of life; and in these, so far as I can I wish to labor in propagating the Rite, whose servant I have been for a quarter of a century. There are no more books to be prepared: and as we now have all the means for teaching the great truths that we proclaim, I must “take the field” and be the apostle of our Masonic faith while there is strength in me to do so.
What goes farthest to dishearten me is that our Brethren do not care to read. We have just reprinted, separately from the ritual, the several readings of the 32°, which will be sold for cost of printing, and which any 32° can buy. They contain the fruits and results of all my studies for twenty five years, much of it never known before to any one since the days that are forgotten. They represent an immense labor and have in them the very pith and manor and substance and essence of our doctrine. – and there is not one 32° in a hundred, or one 33° in twenty (active members of our Supreme Council included) who will even care to read them.
It would be a wise law to be enacted by the Supreme Council that a 32° asking for a patent, should be required to answer on his honor, after these readings have been a year within his reach, “Have you read carefully and thoroughly the Morals and Dogma? Have you read the readings of the 32°? Do you read the bulletin? and to provide that if his answer to either question is “no”, to refuse him a patent and the right to visit, and even the name of “Master of the Royal Secret,” which applied to him, is a lie.
But as among church members only about one in a hundred knows anything about the subjects on which he is required to profess a belief, and not more than one in a hundred care anything about questions which, many consider, are for the Reachers and Teachers only, it is unreasonable to expect more in Masonry.
This only is absolutely certain. It is not enough to write and print books. One in a hundred may read these: and where ten read them, nine of the ten will wonder what it all has to do with the making of money. The only way to reach the intellects is by the voice. Masons, will listen, and though most of them will soon forget what they hear, some few will and profit by it.
After all if we can take care of ourselves it is enough for most of us to work at, and if one can make even one other man wiser and better, God will not think that he has lived in vain. I have done more than that I know.
Always truly yours
Albert Pike
Bro. W. Pratt, 33°
About the author:
Michael D. Robinson 32° KCCH, earned his degree in History at Colorado State University. He was the second Master Mason Raised in Esoterika Lodge #227, and the first member Raised in that Lodge to serve as Worshipful Master. He was presented with the Hiram Award by Esoterika Lodge in 2012, and was elected Master in 2013 and 2014. He served as District Deputy for District #13 in 2016-17 and 2017-18, and was appointed Grand Historian for 2018-19. He is also serving as Historian for Research Lodge #198 and Eugene Lodge #11. Brother Robinson received the Scottish Rite degrees in 2010 and was the recipient of the “Novus Astorum” from the Portland Valley Scottish Rite that year. He was appointed Historian of the Scottish Rite Orient of Oregon in December of 2014. In March of 2015 he was made Secretary of the Eugene Valley, and Director of the Work for that Valley in January of 2017.
Brethren, The roll of the workmen has been called, and one Master Mason, Brother Ralph S. Gens, 32°, has not answered to his name. He has laid down the working tools of life and with them has left that mortal part for which he no longer has use. His labors here below have taught him to divest his heart and conscience of the vices and superfluity of life, thereby fitting his mind as a living stone for that spiritual building, that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Strengthened in his labors here by faith in God, and confident of expectation of immortality, he has been granted admission to the Celestial Lodge above. His Brethren mourn the passing of a great man and Mason.
Brother Gens was born in Berlin Germany on November 25th, 1924 and passed on January 3rd, 2019 in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. His earthly remains are now resting in the eternal sleep at River View Cemetery. More information and a wonderful account of his life is available at; http://obits.oregonlive.com/obituaries/oregon/obituary.aspx…
The roll of the workmen has been called, and one Master Mason, Illustrious Brother Erin Lynn Endicott, 33°, Inspector General Honorary, Past Grand Master, has not answered to his name. He has laid down the working tools of life and with them has left that mortal part for which he no longer has use. His labors here below have taught him to divest his heart and conscience of the vices and superfluity of life, thereby fitting his mind as a living stone for that spiritual building, that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Strengthened in his labors here by faith in God, and confident of expectation of immortality, he has been granted admission to the Celestial Lodge above. His Brethren mourn the passing of a great man and Mason.
Notice from the Grand Lodge of Oregon:
Most Worshipful Brother Endicott was born October 5, 1942. He joined the Navy after graduating from High School in 1960, and was stationed aboard the USS Topeka, CLG #8. In 1962 Erin married Barbara Bennett in Elgin, Oregon. Following their marriage they moved to the San Francisco Bay area. After being discharged from the Navy, Erin and Barbara remained in the Bay area for several months, eventually moving to Bothell, Washington. They moved many times over the next several years, and in October 1966 he was hired as a fireman for the Union Pacific Railroad. In May of 1973 he was promoted to Engineer, and retired due to an injury in November 1989.
M.W.Br. Erin was a Life Member of both Grande Ronde Valley Lodge No. 56 and his home Lodge of Cove Lodge No. 91 where he was raised to Master Mason on April 3, 1991. He was Worshipful Master of Cove Lodge No. 91 in 1997, and was presented with a Hiram Award at Cove Lodge in 2006. In Grande Ronde Valley Lodge No. 56 he held the offices of Junior Warden, Senior Warden and Worshipful Master. (He was Initiated to the Baker Valley of the Scottish Rite in 1991, Honored as a Knight Commander of the Court of Honour in 2001 and Coroneted as an Inspector General Honorary in 2005.)
Erin is survived by his wife Barbara, their three children, Jon, Cinda and Pamela, and numerous grandchildren.
A Memorial Service is pending and information will be shared as soon as the family has a chance to make the arrangements. Erin was a kind man and will be missed by many. Please remember Barbara and the family in your thoughts and prayers.
About the author:
About the author:
