Bro. William Worrall Mayo
Photo courtesy Mayo Clinic

The more I learn about the world, the more I find Freemasons involved in making our world a better place to live.

Growing up in Iowa and knowing that my parents and other neighbors were patients at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, I was most interested in an article in the January 2002 issue of Freemasonry Today. This magazine is published in England. Dr. Roger Stevens, the author of the article, is a English physician who spent a four-week "clerkship in plastic surgery" at the Mayo Clinic in 2001. Dr. Stevens is also a Freemason, a member of two Lodges in England.

William Worrall Mayo was born in England in 1819 and immigrated to the United States in 1846. He received his medical degree in Indiana before moving to Rochester, Minnesota, as a surgeon with the U.S. Army. Within three months of arriving in Rochester, Dr. Mayo joined Freemasonry in 1863. One of his two sons, also physicians, joined Freemasonry in 1890.

Dr. Charles ("Dr. Charlie") Horace Mayo would serve as Grand Orator of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota in 1924 and would receive the 33° in 1935. The other son, William, petitioned Rochester Lodge in 1920, but at the age of 59 and busy at the Clinic, did not receive any Degrees.

Two of Dr. Charlie's sons, Dr. Charles ("Dr. Chuck") William Mayo and Dr. Joseph Graham Mayo, joined Freemasonry. Like his father, Dr. Chuck also became the Grand Orator of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota.

Ill. Charles Horace Mayo, 33° Photo courtesy Mayo Clinic

The Mayo Clinic practiced a basic tenet of Freemasonry: helping others. No patient at the Mayo Clinic was ever refused medical treatment for having insufficient funds. The Mayo brothers gave $2 million to establish a Foundation at the University of Minnesota. Masons are well known for their strong support of higher education.

The Mayos were involved in the construction of Rochester's first Masonic Temple in 1901. In fact, the Mayo Clinic was housed within the Temple from 1901 to 1914.

The two Mayo brothers died in 1939, and the direct family involvement in the Mayo Clinic stopped. Today, the Mayo Clinic has three main locations: Rochester, Minnesota; Jacksonville, Florida; and Scottsdale, Arizona. Two thousand physicians and 35,000 allied health staff treat nearly one-half million patients annually.

Readers interested in reading the full article on the Mayo Clinic are directed to Freemasonry Today, January 2002. www.freemasonrytoday.com.

Reprinted from CIS Masonic Report, a publication of the Center for Interfaith Studies, Inc., Brother Gary Leazer, 32°, Editor (Vol. 7, No. 1), Tel. 770-979-1687; E-mail leazer@mindspring.com