MASONIC RING AND EASTERN STAR

While still in Glendive, Dick was sponsored for membership in the Masonic Order, probably by Richard Christle and for the purpose of networking with others active in the construction industry. The organization quickly became an important part of Dick’s life, a quasi-secular substitute for the church he had rejected. He received his first degree on December 26, 1946 in Glendive Lodge, No. 31. In April 24, 1948 (three days after Donna was born) “B. Dick Holzworth … was regularly Received, Admitted and Constituted a Noble of the Mystic Shrine in Al Bedoo Temple of Billings, Mont.” Dick moved rapidly through the intermediate degrees of the Masons and on November 3, 1950, received certification from the “Supreme Council of the 33 Degree” as “Master of the Royal Secret of 32 Degree of the ANCIENT and ACCEPTED SCOTTISH RITE.” In his unique way of putting things, Dick often said “You only get the 33 Degree if you pick buckshot out of the President’s ass.”



Doris joined the auxiliary organization Eastern Star on May 26, 1948 after an extension for the initiation probably related to Donna’s birth the month before.


For both Dick and Doris, the organizations provided rich fellowship with like civic-minded couples and an important way to accomplish charitable work. The Shriners organization built and funded children’s hospitals throughout the United States in addition to other charitable efforts. The organization was open to anyone who held a professed belief in a Supreme Being. Many of the founding fathers were Masons. The religious grounding of the organization frequently came up when Dick talked about his lifelong commitment to it.




Doris continued to be actively involved in the Methodist Church in addition to the work she did with Eastern Star. For most of the years in Miles City, she volunteered at the Holy Rosary Hospital as a Gray Lady, a sort of nurse’s aid.

After he got his Masonic ring, Dick wore it in the place of his wedding ring. In his joking way, he would say that his ring finger was not long enough for two wide gold bands and the Masons understood this. They designed the Masonic ring to serve both functions. When the engraved pyramid faced outward, it was a Masonic ring. When he rotated the pyramid toward his palm, it was his wedding ring. If any of this upset Doris, she never let on. Probably, she understood the deep religious feeling and his equally deep commitment to her covered by the joke. In any event, the ring got such wear that the black etching of the pyramid eventually disappeared leaving a faint indentation of the pyramid barely visible.

Terry joined Demolay, a sort of training organization for future Masons, but did not stay with it after High School. He was later sponsored for membership in the Santa Cruz, California Lodge and was raised to the third degree of Masonry on January 21, 1969. The time from initiation to third degree was within the same short timeframe in which Dick was raised, a goal that Terry set for himself (or so he imagined) when he became a Mason. Our parents never stop setting goals for us, even in their absence.