John W. Boettjer, 33°, Grand Cross

  
 

In 1966, I started to do the Rite thing, not knowing it was also the right thing to do for the rest of my life. At that time, I was a high-school English teacher in Hyattsville, Maryland, and a student working on a doctorate in American Thought and Civilization at George Washington University, Washington, D.C. During a conversation in the high school’s faculty lunchroom, a colleague asked if anyone at the table would care to take on an extra job, part-time editing for The New Age Magazine, renamed The Scottish Rite Journal in 1990. The proffered fee of $1 per edited page struck this struggling graduate student as a munificent sum. Thus began my Masonic journey in total ignorance of what Freemasonry and the Scottish Rite were!

Over the years, I learned through extensive research and writing to fill in the gaps, developing both a working knowledge of the Craft and an ever-growing respect for Freemasonry, especially the Scottish Rite. Between 1966 and 1989, nearly every week I received a large envelope of materials (articles, speeches, reports, etc.) to edit and, eventually, to write. At the same time, my work progressed in academia from a teaching assistant at George Washington University in the American Thought and Civilization department and a researcher with the Papers of Woodrow Wilson at the Library of Congress to a college instructor or university professor at Virginia Military Institute, Lexington; Michigan State University, Lansing; and Edison Community College, Ft. Myers, Florida.

Prolific writing for and about Freemasonry led to a fascination with all things Masonic. Thus, when the call came in 1989 to become full-time Managing Editor of The Scottish Rite Journal, I jumped at the opportunity! Through one magazine, I could reach more people than in my entire 23-year academic career! What a wonderful way to promote Freemasonry!
My first magazine

From the very first day in the editor’s chair, I realized how lucky I was, not only to spread the good word of Masonry but also to meet and work with great people. Sovereign Grand Commander C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33°, for instance, immediately took me under his wing (even teaching me how to knot my tie more impressively) and gave me the opportunity to affect much more than the Fraternity’s publications. Always keeping an open ear for suggestions, he gave all his staff the freedom to innovate, whether they offered changes related to the Southern Jurisdiction’s publications, an improvement to the House of the Temple, expansion of the RiteCare Childhood Language Program, or the many other endeavors which in the last decades have so greatly benefited the Scottish Rite, Freemasonry, and America.

Fortunately, this tradition is being expanded in many significant ways by Sovereign Grand Commander Ronald A. Seale, 33°. Like Ill. Kleinknecht, Grand Commander Seale has the excellent assistance of Admiral William G. Sizemore, 33°, Grand Cross, as Grand Executive Director. Also, it is a comfort to know that Grand Commander Seale has appointed Dr. S. Brent Morris, 33°, Grand Cross, as Managing Editor not only of the Journal but also the Plumbline––all this, while continuing as Editor of Heredom for the Scottish Rite Research Society and as Director of Membership Development for the Supreme Council! In my opinion no other Mason could wear as many “hats” and serve so capably.

Most of all, I wish to thank the Brethren of the Southern Jurisdiction. Without your support these many years, the staff of the Supreme Council could not have achieved the Scottish Rite’s present state as the most dynamic fraternal order in the world. Undeniably, the contemporary national environment of declining volunteerism challenges all of us. Yet if we will make the right decisions to give members ongoing value for their membership, we will expand our ranks and, consequently, enhance the Scottish Rite’s heritage of intellectual pursuit and philanthropic outreach.

These are noble goals I feel privileged to have served to the very best of my ability these past 39 years. It was the Rite thing as well as the right thing to do. It is for you, too. Godspeed!

John William Boettjer, 33°, Grand Cross: After graduating from high school in Michigan City, Indiana, Ill. Bro. Boettjer served four years in the U.S. Navy, leaving the service as a 2nd Class Petty Officer. He next entered George Washington University and received in succession an A.A., B.A., M.A., and, in 1970, a Ph.D. His doctoral dissertation in American Thought and Civilization was “The Autobiography of the American Businessman.” John then embarked on a career in academe which included being a Research Assistant with the Papers of Woodrow Wilson in the Library of Congress, Research Fellow at Harvard University, and a professor at Virginia Military Institute, Michigan State University, Lansing Community College, and Edison Community College. In 1989, he joined the full-time staff of the Supreme Council as Managing Editor of The New Age Magazine.

While John prefers to avoid the spotlight and to work in the background, his abilities have gained him lasting recognition. Aside from his work with The Scottish Rite Journal, 1989–2005, he served as Editor of The Plumbline, 2000–2005, and edited many significant Masonic books, including:

  • Albert Pike: The Man Beyond the Monument
  • Pillars of Wisdom
  • Vested in Glory: The Regalia of the Scottish Rite
  • Forms and Traditions of the Scottish Rite
  • The Bible in Albert Pike’s Morals and Dogma
  • A Glossary of Morals and Dogma
  • Revised Standard Pike Obligatory Degrees
  • Masonic Philanthropies: A Tradition of Caring
  • and Cornerstones of Freedom.

It was largely through his initiative that the Supreme Council published a notable series of art prints and created in the House of the Temple the Supreme Temple Architects Hall of Honor, the Cornerstone of Freedom Hall, and the Hall of Scottish Rite Regalia.

Raised in Cypress Lodge #295, Naples, Florida, and a dual member of Henry Knox Field Lodge No. 349, Alexandria, Virginia, John belongs to the Scottish Rite Bodies of Alexandria, Virginia. In 1993, he received the Supreme Council’s highest honor, the Grand Cross of the Court of Honour, and he is one of only 67 living Grand Cross recipients. He was a Founding Member of the Board of Directors of the Scottish Rite Research Society, a Contributing Member and Fellow of the Society, and in 2001 he received the Society’s Albert Gallatin Mackey Award for Lifetime Achievement. In addition to the Mackey Award, his literary contributions to Masonry have been further recognized and honored. He is Friar 87 of the Society of Blue Friars, and the Philalethes Society awarded him their Distinguished Service Award in 1993.

John serves as a member of the Steering Committee of the Masonic Information Center of the Masonic Service Association of North America and is a Member in Perpetuity of Old Dominion Chapter #364, National Sojourners, Inc., a member of the Royal Order of Scotland, Mt. Vernon Chapter No. 3, R.A.M., and Adoniram-Zabud Council No. 2, Cryptic Masons, the latter two in Washington, D.C.

John W. Boettjer is a friend, mentor, and exemplar to all who know and work with him. He has set an incredibly high standard for service to Freemasonry, one that will rarely be equaled if ever surpassed.