GMAllen
Contents
CLAUDE L. ALLEN 1878-1961
Deputy Grand Master, 1921
Grand Master, 1935-1937
TERM
NOTES
MEMORIAL
From Proceedings, Page 1961-110:
Claude LeRoy Allen, Senior Past Grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts, died at the age of eighty-three on March 21, 1961, in Willemstad, Curaçao, while on a vacation cruise.
In his long life he had been a leader in civic, legislative, banking, philanthropic and Masonic circles and, in 1958, Suffolk University conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence.
He was born in South Thomaston, Maine, on January 11, 1878. All of his ancestors, so far as he had any record, had resided in Maine, and principally in the small towns surrounding Rockland, Maine.
He graduated from Boston English High School and from Boston University Law School in 1900. For six decades he was active in the practice of law in Boston, coming to his office daily as long as he lived. For years he was a member of the law firm of Allen and Barnes, and later, until his death, he headed the law firm of Allen and Redding. For many years he was counsel for the Grand Lodge. He was a member of the Middlesex County and the Massachusetts Bar Associations and of the Bar of the Supreme Court.
He served as a Melrose Alderman in 1905, as City Solicitor from 1906 to 1912, and in the Massachusetts Senate in 1912 and 1913. For fifteen years he was President of the Melrose Hospital. He was for many years President of the Melrose National Bank and Trust Company, and was Board Chairman of the Melrose Trust Company and counsel for the Somerville National Bank and the Melrose Co-operative Bank
Active in Masonry since 1904, he became Worshipful Master of Wyoming Lodge in 1917, was Deputy Grand Master in 1921, and Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts from 1935 to 1937.
In 1923 he became a member of all York Rite bodies in Melrose and of the Scottish Rite bodies in Boston; and in 1936 he received the Honorary 33rd degree in Atlantic City. In 1940 he was elected an Active Member of the Supreme Council for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction and served as Deputy for Massachusetts from 1948 to 1960. He was also an Active Member of the Supreme Council of the Order of DeMolay.
A few of his civic affiliations were: service as Chairman of the Draft Board during World War I; member of the Melrose Lodge of Elks; the Boston and Melrose City Clubs; the Bellevue, the Rockport and the Nashua Country Clubs.
He is survived by his wife Anna (Comins); a son, Claude LeRoy Allen, Jr,, Headmaster of Hebron Academy, Hebron, Maine; and a daughter, Mrs. Beatrice Page, wife of Dr. Irvine H. Page, famed cardiologist.
His Masonic record is included in the Necrology.
He was a wise counsellor, a loyal friend, a genial companion, a patriotic and generous citizen and public servant. His friendships were nationwide and his Masonic stature was worldwide. He will be widely and sincerely missed, but his kindly, constructive influence will long remain.
Fraternally submitted,
Joseph Earl Perry
Thomas S. Roy
Whitfield W. Johnson
Committee
CHARTERS GRANTED
None.
RULINGS
