CHRONOLOGY OF MASONIC CHARITY
IN OKLAHOMA
http://www.mcfok.org/history.htm
From 1888
1888
Fourteenth Annual Communication of the Grand
Lodge of the Indian Territory. A resolution
was presented and adopted as follows:
Resolved, that a Special
Commission be appointed to devise a plan for
the systematic education of Masonic orphans,
raise funds therefore and secure a legal
title to a suitable body of land on which to
erect a Masonic Orphanage for the Grand
Lodge of Indian Territory.
1889
Fifteenth Annual Communication of the Grand
Lodge of the Indian Territory. A report by
M\W\ Joseph Murrow that a letter had been
sent to all the Lodges asking for
contributions to the Home.
1898
Address by Grand Master James A. Scott to
the Grand Lodge of the Indian Territory
meeting at Vinita, stressing the importance
of work on establishing the Children’s Home.
1899
At the Twenty-Sixth Annual Communication of
the Grand Lodge of the Indian Territory held
at Wynnewood, the Grand Secretary again
calls the attention of the Craft to the
importance of the Home.
1900
Brother Henry Furman is made Financial Agent
for the Home’s Fund. The records of the
Indian Territory Grand Lodge communications
over the next several years show that he
dedicated great amounts of time, personal
sacrifice, and resources to the project. He
seems to have single-handedly gotten the
project off the ground.
M\W\ Brother William L. Eagleton in the
Eighth Annual Communication of the Oklahoma
Territory Grand Lodge, announces the need
for a Home for widows and orphans, and
suggests that it be financed by a per-capita
tax on Members. The motion is adopted.
Other resolutions provide that the Grand
Secretary will collect and the Grand
Treasurer will deposit the funds. A Board
is appointed.
1902
M\W\ Henry Furman, G.M., reports to the
Grand Lodge of Indian Territory on the
progress in collecting the fund for the Home
in Indian Territory.
The Grand Master adds:
Can you, as a
self-respecting Mason, see this work going
on and take no part in it? The great secret
of happiness in this life is to make others
happy. If you have done so you know that
this is true. If you have never tried to do
so then indeed has your progress in masonry
been in vain and the labors of your Brethren
in your behalf been for naught.
The Trustees of the Orphan’s Home Fund made
a report showing the fund at $10,445.17.
1905
At the Annual Communication of the Grand
Lodge of the Indian Territory held in Tulsa,
it is reported that the endowed fund of
$50,000 has been completed.
1907
At the Annual Communication of the Grand
Lodge of Indian Territory at South
McAlester, the Masonic Home Committee
reports that no offers for the Home location
have been made. An offer is then read from
Atoka for a temporary location for
the Home in an existing facility. The
proposal includes an offer from the Eastern
Star to charge a per-capita tax on its
members to support the Home.
The Grand Master then appointed the first
Board of Control:
J.G. Ralls
Atoka
William Busby McAlester
Henry M. Furman Ada
Lewis R. Nash Ft. Gibson
First meeting of the Home Board of Control.
William Busby elected President, and J.G.
Ralls elected Secretary.
1908
Home opens, with Brother George C. Sanders
as Superintendent. (23 children)
Due to the ill health of his wife, Brother
Sanders resigns as Superintendent and is
replaced by Brother R.W. Choate.
Mrs. Emma Telle named Matron in Charge of
the Home.
1909
The Oklahoma Territory Grand Lodge receives
the report from Brother W. L. Eagleton that
the $50,000 endowment fund has been
accomplished.
The two Grand Lodges are united to form the
Grand Lodge of the State of Oklahoma.
At the Grand Lodge session on 1909, a
committee consisting of William Busby,
Joseph Ralls and C.L. Reeder was appointed
to find a permanent location for the Home.
The Committee visits the “Darlington
Reservation” and investigates the
possibilities. They were greatly impressed
by what they saw.
Later in that year William Busby visits
Washington and secures the introduction and
passage of an Act of Congress which allows
the Fraternity to purchase the Darlington
property at the appraised value.
1910
At the Annual Communication, the report of
the committee informs the Grand Lodge that
the space at Darlington is ample for the
present and future needs of the Home. There
are several cottages which can be used for
elderly Master Masons or their widows. They
also announce their hope to build a college
on the property.
The Home is removed from Atoka to
Darlington. (65 children)
1911
The Home Board of Control reports to the
Grand Lodge session on the condition of the
Home property and on the progress made in
making it ready.
1913
The Grand Chapter, O.E.S., votes funds to
build a chapel on the Darlington property.
Fire destroyed the old commissary building
which was being used as a power plant and
industrial school.
1919
Grand Master O. Lonzo Conner suggests that
there should be a separate Home for the
Aged, and recommends an appropriation to
build such a Home.
1920
At a meeting of the Home Board of Control,
an offer is made by the Scottish Rite
Consistory at Guthrie to allow the Grand
Lodge to use the Guthrie property as the
Home.
Materials are developed and sent to each of
the Lodges, explaining the pros and cons of
moving the Home. Each Lodge is instructed
to make the information available to the
members and to vote on whether or not to
move the Home when it holds its annual
election of officers. The results are to be
forwarded to the Grand Lodge.
1921
At the Annual Communication, a vote on
moving the Home is taken. The results are:
Guthrie 876
Muskogee 208
Darlington 10
Norman 1
It was then decided to make the vote
unanimous in favor of Guthrie.
1922
Hawk and Parr, Architects, was selected as
the firm to design the Children’s Home, and
later the Home for the Aged as well.
Campbell and Price, of Oklahoma City, was
selected as the contractor.
The Home moves to Guthrie. (106 children)
(15 adults) Everyone is moved into the
“Old Statehouse”.
1923
Moved into Children’s Home. (66 boys) (48
girls) (21 men) (5 women)
1924
Announcement is made of an agreement with
the State of Oklahoma to sell the Darlington
property to the state to be used for a
hospital for the treatment of drug and
liquor addicts.
1925
After commenting on how well the children in
the Home are doing in Guthrie, Grand Master
Henry S. Johnston commented on the
importance of establishing a separate Home
for the Aged rather than continuing to house
the two populations together.
“The old people must be
gotten out of the Home. Elderly men smoke
and chew and swear and old men and elderly
men and elderly women both grouch and
complain, and the very playfulness which
makes a boy the delight of a parent, the
sunbeam of a home, renders him an object of
aversion to some elderly persons who are not
related to the boy or interested in him,
especially when his noise and play clashes
with their past habits of life or the
condition of nerves of the elderly person.”
A hospital, fully
equipped except for an operating room, is
established on the third floor of the
Children’s Home.
1927
Six story Masonic Home
for the Aged is occupied. (27 men) (10
women) Brother William A. Hopkins and his
wife are engaged to serve as managers of the
facility.
1928
By motion made and
passed by the Grand lodge Session, the Home
for the Aged is given the official name of
the Charles L. Reeder Dormitory.
Also, a committee is
formed to work with the Home Board of
Control to create an outreach program to
offer help and guidance to young men and
women when they graduate from the Masonic
Children’s Home.
1930
The Grand Lodge
approves a motion directing the
Incorporation of the Masonic Charity
Foundation of Oklahoma, and authorizing it
to receive and disburse funds and receive
and dispose of property. Organization
begins on July 9th. Lew Wentz is
first President, Rufus Renfrew is first
Secretary.
1931
A report is received
by the Grand Lodge, documenting the
establishment of the Masonic Charity
Foundation of Oklahoma in much the form it
operates today. Membership in the Homes:
Children’s Home, 118: Home for the Elderly,
88.
1934
The Children’s Home
adds vocational training facilities; Masonic
Print Shop established.
1935
Grand Master Joseph
Drouot establishes the permanent endowment
fund of the Masonic Charity Foundation of
Oklahoma.
1936
Vocational Building
erected at Children’s Home by Royal Arch
Masons. H.L. Muldrow becomes Secretary of
the Foundation.
1938
First moving picture
made of the Homes, showing the building and
daily life.
1941
A special issue of the
Masonic Home News traces the history
and development of the Masonic Charity
Foundation.
1942
Assets of the Masonic
Charity Foundation exceed $200,000.
The Masonic cemetery
at Darlington is removed to Guthrie.
1949
Upon the death of Lew
Wentz, Rufus Renfrew becomes President of
the Foundation. Assets of the Masonic
Charity Foundation pass $1,000,000.
1950 – 1954
Programs continue to
expand at both facilities. The Children’s
Home adds additional vocational training;
the Home for the Aged increases hospital and
nursing home services.
1955
Because additional
space is needed for the Home for the Aged,
ground is broken for a four-story Annex to
the Home, together with a new Grand Lodge
Building.
Cornerstones laid for
Annex and Grand Lodge Building.
1956
New Annex is occupied.
(Total in both buildings – 107) (78 women,
29 men)
1957
On recommendation of
Grand Master W. Ralph Howard, the Children’s
Home is opened to all children in need,
regardless of Masonic affiliation.
Opened single floor
Solarium Building next to Home for the Aged.
1964
Assets of Masonic
Charity Foundation pass $5,000,000.
1965
The second film
featuring the Home, Oklahoma Masonic
Heritage, is produced.
1968
The first deaths occur
in Viet Nam of soldiers who grew up in the
Children’s Home.
1970
Due to changes in IRS
regulations, changes are made in the
Articles of Incorporation of the Masonic
Charity Foundation. The Grand Lodge
Trustees ratify the changes.
Serious discussion
begins about the necessity of building a new
Home for the Aged or completely remodeling
the existing facilities.
1974
The Research and
Development Committee of the Grand Lodge
formally recommends that the new Home for
the Aged be constructed. Further, as
changes in the state’s foster children
program have reduced the need for the
Children’s Home, and there are now only 10
children being served, they recommend that
the Home be closed and the children be cared
for in an alternative facility.
1975
The Grand Lodge votes
to build a new Home for the Aged in Guthrie.
1976
Construction begins on
new Home.
1977
Cornerstone is laid by
M\W\ LeRoy Hudson for the new Home for the
Aged.
1978
Members are moved from
the old six story Home for the Aged to the
new Home west of Guthrie. (76 Residents
moved). The old Home for the Aged is
closed. The Four Story Annex building
remains open.
With only three
children remaining in the Children’s Home,
caused by a multitude of government programs
serving children, the Home is closed and the
children placed in foster homes.
1979
All charitable
activity of the Grand Lodge of Oklahoma is
transferred to the Masonic Charity
Foundation of Oklahoma. Assets of the
Foundation exceed $13,000,000. First
professional office with full staff is
established. Prior to this time, the
Secretaries had worked from their own homes
or offices and without the assistance of
staff.
1983
The Lodge Matching
Fund Program is established to help local
Lodges meet charitable needs of their
communities.
The Foundation’s first
computer is purchased. With programming
developed in-house, the computer serves the
Homes, the Foundation, and the Grand Lodge.
Remote terminals add to the efficiency of
the program.
1984
The first grants are
made under the Foundation’s Children in
Crisis Program. This program provides major
grants to groups working with Children at
risk in some way.
The Foundation adopts
a professionally-designed, governmentally
approved retirement plan for its nearly 100
employees. Also, the Foundation builds a
new wing on the Home for the Aged to house a
new laundry, storage facilities for members,
and a mechanical shop.
The Masonic Charity
Foundation joins with the Oklahoma Grand
Lodge in supporting the National hospital
Visitation program of the Masonic Service
Association. Through this effort, hospital
counselors are currently serviced in both
U.S. Veteran’s Hospitals and in some state
Veterans Hospitals.
1985
The “Partners in
Prevention” program in conjunction with the
Oklahoma Society for the Prevention of
Blindness is established whereby local
lodges assist with screening for vision
problems in school children and the elderly.
Laundry is moved from
Children’s Home to new wing in rear of the
new Home building.
1986
Name changed from Masonic
Home for Aged to Oklahoma Masonic Home.
1990
Ground is broken for the
permanent offices of the Masonic Charity
Foundation of Oklahoma.
1991
The Masonic Charity
Foundation of Oklahoma establishes the
Masonic Leadership Institute for the
purposes of developing programs in Masonic
training and education.
Cornerstone of the
Foundation’s offices is laid.
Four Story Annex
building is closed.
1995
Four Story Annex building
is sold.
Old six story building
is donated to Logan County.
1996
Solarium building is
sold to Logan County.
2000
Due to under usage of
the Oklahoma Masonic Home, caused by a
multitude of government programs serving the
elderly, the Board of Directors voted to
phase out the Home.
23 of 37 Residents at
the Oklahoma Masonic Home were moved to
various facilities in Guthrie, Oklahoma
City, Midwest City, Moore, Noble, Purcell
and Wichita Falls, Texas and Plano, Texas.
Oklahoma Masonic Home
building is sold.
14 Residents remain at
the Oklahoma Masonic Home building which
continues to operate as the Oklahoma Masonic
Home.
Promises Matter
program established to assist every needy
Master Mason, his wife, widow and mother in
Oklahoma; plus female Eastern Star members.
2001
10 remaining Residents at
the Oklahoma Masonic Home building are moved
to various nursing facilities in Guthrie.
2002
Web page created and toll
free number added to assist Lodges.
Presidents
Of
Masonic Charity Foundation
Lew
H. Wentz
1930--1949
Rufus O. Renfrew
1950
General William S. Key
1951 – 1958
Lyle
L. Hague
1959 – 1965
Clay
A. Babb
1966
Raymond O. Gibbs
1967 – 1981
J.
Clay Thrash
1982 – 1985
Wilson B. Haney
1986 – 1988
Mahlon B. Robertson
1989 – 1991
Bob
C. Morrison
1992 – 1994
James C. Love
1995 – 1997
Robert G. Davis
1998 – 2000
John
L. Logan
2001 – present
Secretaries
Of
Masonic Charity Foundation
Rufus O. Renfrew
1930 – 1935
H.
L. Muldrow
1936 – 1951
Lee
B. Thompson
1952 – 1964
Robert W. Osborn
1965
William F. Lambert
1966 – 1970
Roy
J. Pierce
1971 – 1981
Ted
C. Preble
1982
Fred
C. Joiner
1983 – 1985
Orin
A. Shipp
1986 – 1998
Bob
C. Morrison
1999 – 2001
Robert G. Davis
2002 – Present
Professional
Office established in 1979