A HISTORY OF OSO NAVAL LODGE #1282 AF & AM

December 12, 1985

Presented by St. Elmo Glaze PM

We are delighted you are here this evening to help us celebrate the 43rd Anniversary of the granting of the Charter of OSO NAVAL LODGE #1282 Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Or to put it another way

"Welcome to our 43rd Birthday Party".

Tonight we are going to honor our Charter Members: we are going to issue a Life Membership to one of our beloved members and we are going to award 25 Year Service Awards to several of our brethren who have recently completed 25 years of Labor in the Quarries of Masonry. Before doing so let us go back to the year 1941. The Naval Air Station was nearing completion and the training of Naval Aviators was under way. This activity caused a large influx of Construction workers, Civil Service employees, and Military Personnel. Among these newcomers to our community were several members of the Masonic Lodge.

During the latter part of the year plans for the organization of a new Masonic Lodge in Corpus Christi, for the benefit of Military and Civilian Personnel at the then new Naval Air Training Base, were begun. The first organized meeting was held in the Ground School Administration Building at the Naval Base on November 3rd 1941 with 38 Masons from more than 15 Grand Jurisdictions in attendance. Additional meetings were held during November and on Saturday December 6th (the day before Pearl Harbor) an article appeared in the Corpus Christi newspaper stating that there was to be a meeting of Oso Naval Lodge at 7:30 PM at the Temple of Corpus Christi Lodge.

It appears that sometime between November 3rd and December 6th a name had been selected for the new Lodge. The fact that the Lodge was to be for the benefit of Masons connected with the Naval Air Station and the Air Station adjacent to the Cayo-Del-Oso evidently had something to do with choosing that name. Therefore should it be so named "Oso Naval Lodge". During the months that followed several meetings were held which resulted in the required number of Charter Members being obtained, the paperwork and many other details completed and forwarded to the Grand Lodge of Texas for consideration. Lt. Clark P Sherwood, Dr. Irving M. Dietz, Archie R. Connell. Edmund E. Moore, J.C. Thompson, and Bro. James H. Adams District Deputy Grand Master during 1941 were among the leaders in this effort. Their hopes came to fruition on July 18th 1942, when a Dispensation granted by the Most Worshipful Grand Mater, Dr. E. M. Wood was delivered by Right Worshipful Rogers Kelly, who was at that time Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge.

The five principal Officers of the Lodge on the Night the Lodge was set to Work under Dispensation were:

Bro. Irving M. Dietz WM

Bro. Archie R. Connell SW

Bro. Edmund E. Moore JW

Bro. J. C. Thompson TRES.

Bro. Clark P. Sherwood SEC.

One of the first orders of business was the appointment of the first Building Committee composed of Bros. Orin R. DeSalme, James H. Buckner, and George P. Mode,

On Sunday July 26th 1942, a special dedication service for the Lodge was held in the Chapel at the Naval Air Station. One hundred forty one Masons, Families, and Friends had to be given special passes to enter the South Gate NAS to attend this service. The Sermon Subject was "The Four Cardinal Virtues of Masonry".

On Saturday night December 12th 1942, a very special meeting was held for the presentation of the Charter and to install the Officers of the lodge. This meeting was presided over by the Most Worshipful Rogers Kelly, Grand Master, assisted by Bro. Claude L. Austin, Deputy Grand Master and several other Grand Officers. Bro. Kelly presented a striking figure in the Full Uniform of a Lieutenant of the U. S. Army.

During the next four years the lodge was very busy with Degree Work and the various affairs of the Lodge. Nearly all of the Called and Stated Meetings were held on Saturdays. Some days both Called and Stated meetings were held beginning in the morning and lasting all day and far into the night. The demands of six and seven day work schedules during war time left very little free time and certainly the Officers and Members of the Lodge must have been very dedicated to give up their Saturdays for Masonry. Dozens of Military men received their Degrees during the next four years and some are still members of the Lodge. Some, however, upon retiring from the service and locating permanently in other areas have transferred their membership to where they make their home. As well they should.

The various Building Committees were always on the lookout for a suitable location for the lodge. Several building sites were investigated including two or three in the heart of the Six Points area. Due to the high cost of property and lack of parking space these locations were rejected. During these years the Lodge was fairly prosperous and invested its money in Victory Bonds and in a Savings Account. In August of 1946, the Building Committee was instructed to select, prepare, and present to the Lodge various plans for a Lodge building and also to take option on a suitable building site. In September of 1946, the committee reported that arrangements had been made to purchase a suitable plot of ground in the Lindale Park addition #3 for the sum of $4,500.00. This addition was at that time under cultivation. (It being a cotton field off Alameda St.) The streets had not been laid out and in order to locate the site it was necessary to obtain a map of the area and measure a certain distance from Minnesota (now Texan Trail) on one side and Alameda on the other to determine its exact location. As the city was rapidly growing in this direction this plot was considered a choice location and although it had been previously selected for a Church and had been zoned as such no difficulty was encountered in having it rezoned for a Masonic Lodge. However, I did have some difficulty some years later when I went to City Hall to get a permit to construct a storage building behind the Lodge. They searched for about an hour trying to located our file and the permit under which the original building was constructed. They kept saying, "We have no record of Oso Naval Lodge having been built". Since I was quite certain it had been built I kept after them to search further in their files. It finally turned out that Oso Naval Lodge had been filed under "Hotels, Motels and Tourist Courts". On December 6th 1947 at a summons meeting the selection of a set of plans was made and the Building Committee authorized to employ an architect and proceed with plans for a definite type of building and present these plans at a later date. In April of 1948, preliminary plans were sent to the Grand Lodge where they were approved. They had previously approved of a single story building and Oso Naval Lodge became the first Ground Floor Lodge in Texas. In August of 1948, a complete set of plans and detailed drawings were presented to the Lodge and were approved. In September bids were received on various phases of the proposed building and in January 1949, the foundation was started. This phase of the construction was completed around the first of March. It was at this time that the used air-conditioning ductwork was purchased and delivered to the site.

Funds for the building were, at this time, coming in very satisfactorily and a considerable amount of help in this area was received from Oso Chapter #868 Order of the Eastern Star.

Additional building material such as steel, tile, brick, lumber, etc was procured, some being purchased with money from the Building Fund, while quite a bit was contributed by Members and Friends. In fact, most of the tile, lumber and quite a bit of the brick were donated. It was at this time some of our members became acquainted with real manual labor, which resulted in a lot of sore muscles, aching backs and blistered hands. But, it also resulted in getting the brick and tile unloaded from box-cars and placed on the ground at the building site and moving lumber from the lumber yard to the site. Some members donated the use of their trucks for moving these materials. Much of the work such as the installation of the electrical wiring and lighting was done by Bro. H. C. Tindall and other members of the lodge who contributed their time and labor since the light fixtures had been donated. The used air-conditioning duct which had been previously purchased at a savings to the Lodge had to be dismantled, rebuilt and assembled according to specifications. All this "Tin Bending" was done by Bros. Archie R. Connell, Daniel E. Toohill, William Pfeiffer, and others working at night in the open framework of the building. The wood roof decking was installed by other members, as were various other jobs such as painting, cleaning up the yard, etc. So you see this building was in no way a "Turn-Key" job, but a tremendous effort by the dedicated group of men who knew what they wanted and were not to be denied.

On August 20th 1949 the cornerstone was "Leveled" by the Officers of the Grand Lodge. This stone was donated by Bro. Bert T. Schorlemmer who served as Tiler of the Lodge for many years. During the next few months the building progressed somewhat slowly due to the cold, wet weather, and accompanying mud. However, it was understood that with time, patience, and perseverance they could overcome these difficulties.

Contributions of money and materials continued to be made by Members and Friends during these months.

On June 30th 1950 the first meeting in the new Lodge Building was held when the Officers of the Ensuing Masonic Year were installed and the Stated Meeting nights were changed from the First and Third Saturday to the First and Third Tuesday of each month.

On December 12th 1950, the Lodge Building was officially Dedicated by Officers from the Grand Lodge even though the building was not entirely completed. However, the Building Fund was depleted and more money was needed to complete payment for the furniture and fixtures as well as the air-conditioning equipment. Permission of the Grand Lodge was obtained for the Lodge to borrow the sum of $6,000.00 for this purpose. This loan was repaid in full over the next two years and the 10th Anniversary of the Lodge found it free of any debt.

The Lodge has grown and prospered during its existence. The First Entered Apprentice Initiated and the First Master Mason Raised in the Lodge was Bro. Andrew Jackson Pope Jr. A recently retired Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.

Our membership has grown from the 54 Charter Members to a high of 745 members in 1971, our present membership is 598. By June of 1945 there were 229 members, 76 or 33% of whom were on active duty in the Armed Forces during wartime. At one time, in the mid 1970’s there were seven U.S. Navy Captains among our members.

Of the 54 Charter Members only five remain. They are:

Bro. Virgil B Carter Present

Bro. Horace A Gilbreth "

Bro. William R Harris "

Bro. Fred L Michael "

all of Corpus Christi, and

Bro. Roy E Hanys of Dallas

I wish to recognize those of our Charter Members who are able to be with us this evening and give them an opportunity to make any remarks they may deem appropriate at this time. Special recognition is made of Bro. Jimmy Adams of Refugio Lodge #190 who was District Deputy Grand Master of the 37th Masonic District in 1941.

I would like to call your attention to several things we see and use in the Lodge Room as well as in the other parts of the building and tell you how they came to be here.

The two Brazen Columns located in the back of the room were hand made and painted by Bros. Omar T. Osborne, Benjamin J. Gardner, and others at no cost to the Lodge.

The three Limestone Pedestal Stones in the East, West and South were donated by Bro. Alton E. Seymour. These stones were cut and polished by his father of Georgia limestone quarried near Bro. Seymor’s home in the State of Georgia.

The portrait of George Washington on the back wall was painted in oil and donated by Bro. Walter L. Rickard. This painting was done by Bro. Rickard at the age of 84 years. He was made a Master Mason in Ohio on May 12th 1925 and has been a Mason for over 60 years. Bro Rickard stand up and be recognized.

The pedestal with Three Burning Tapers was built and donated by Bro. Ben J. Gardner.

The Rough and Perfect Ashlars were donated by Bro. Bert T. Schorlemmer. They were quarried in Llano County at the site of the old home ranch of the Schorlemmer family.

The Gold Drapes in the East were made from material purchased in Washington D. C. by Mr. and Mrs. Sid Allison while on a trip. Mrs. Allison and other Ladies of the Order of the Eastern Star made them by hand.

The letter "G" was built by Bro. Caswell D. Payne and donated as a memorial tribute to his son who was killed in an auto accident.

The Alter Cloth was hand embroidered by Mrs. Volney E. Brawner and presented to the Lodge by her son Bro. Archie E Brawner on November 20th 1962.

The Buffet Cabinet and Mirror in the dining room were donated by the Order of the Eastern Star.

The Masonic Emblem Tapestry on the dining room wall was handmade and donated by Bro. Cliff Heddleston.

The new ceiling, wall paneling, light fixtures, and PM pictures in the dining room were installed at no charge by our late Bro. George P. Mode and by Bro. Henry W. Knepp and others.

We who are privileged to use this magnificent and beautiful edifice and enjoy the comforts of these facilities owe a sincere debt of gratitude to those who were responsible for its beginning and to those who worked so hard for its completion.

We are also deeply indebted to those who, down through the years, have managed the affairs of the Lodge so well and established a reputation for Good and Square Work which we as members of this Lodge enjoy today. Our debt to them can never be paid.