SDGMDewhirstN
NEIL CLARK DEWHIRST 1906-1997
Grand Master of South Dakota, 1950-1951
picture
BIOGRAPHY
From "The First 100 Years of the Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. of South Dakota, 1875-1975", Page 172:
Neil C. Dewhirst, the seventy-seventh Grand Master of Masons of South Dakota, was born in Oran, Missouri, on June 15, 1906. He received his education in the grade schools at Olney, Illinois, and his high school at Champaign, Illinois. He attended the Univers1ty of Illinois for two years before moving to Chicago where he graduated from the Gregg Reporting School.
Since 1932 he has been a Court Reporter for the Fifth Judicial District, with the exception of four years when he worked as a salesman.
On March 28, 1932, he was married to Miss Marie Van Osdol. They have two daughters, Nancy Mae and Linda Marie, and one son, Neil Clark II.
He is a member of the Methodist Church.
He became a Master Mason in Sunrise Lodge No. 211, Aberdeen on November 10, 1933. He is a member of Aberdeen Chapter No. 8 and Damascus Commandery No. 10. He is a 33rd degree Honorary Scottish Rite Mason and a member of Yelduz Shrine Temple, Aberdeen.
1951
As Grand Master Dewhirst opened the seventy-seventh Annual Communication at Pierre in 1951, an air of optimism prevailed. Reports showed that of the 168 chartered lodges, 117 had a gain, 41 a loss, and 10 neither a loss or a gain. The membership stood at 18,942 with a gain of 478 for the year. The lodges were in good financial condition, with no balance due on old accounts.
New Masonic Temples had been dedicated that year at Winner and Columbia. A petition signed by 22 brethren for a dispensation to form a new lodge at the Rapid City Air Base had been received.
The Board of Trustees during the year lost one of its members, Past Master Therlo E. Burrington. Brother Harry H. Margolin was elected to fill out the three-year term.
The Finance Committee again called attention to the fact that Grand Lodge expenses had far exceeded the income. The motion to raise per capita dues was finally passed at a figure of $1.50 per member.
Members of the Board of General Activities had attended a meeting at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where the Midwest Conference on Masonic Education had been formed by representatives from eleven states. At this meeting it was very forcibly impressed on the Board that South Dakota had no program on Masonic Education.
The special committee on the South Dakota Lodge of Masonic Research reported favorably on the plan. They recommended that if the Grand Lodge approved, then the five members who had signed the original resolution would be made the temporary officers for the purpose of organization. The Jurisprudence Committee accepted their recommendation and asked for a report at the next annual meeting.
It was moved and adopted that pictures of all Past Grand Secretaries and Past Grand Treasurers be placed on display in the Grand Lodge Library.
The special committee to consider the recognition of the site of the formation of the Grand Lodge of Dakota at Elle Point reported that they had made proper arrangements and asked that $150.00 be appropriated to purchase a suitable plaque. The report was adopted and the committee was instructed to proceed.
