Our History:                                                                                                  

Lodge History

On July 2, 1940 the Homer Hadley floating bridge was opened, replacing ferries as the best way to traverse Lake Washington.  With the new ease of commuting to Seattle, the East Side and Mercer Island began to grow into vibrant suburbs. As the Island population grew, Masons who were members in Seattle and Bellevue lodges decided that a lodge on Mercer Island was needed.  In 1953 the Charter members of our Lodge received the approval of the Grand Lodge of Washington to operate under dispensation, and on June 16, 1954 the Charter was issued, formalizing the creation of Mercer Island Lodge #297.

The Lodge initially met in what is now the Sunnybeam School (aka the Little Red Schoolhouse) at the south end of the Island. In 1966 the Keewaydin Clubhouse was purchased by the Mercer Island VFW and the Lodge, which shared many members with the VFW, became the VFW's first tenant,  Our Lodge enjoys a strong partnership with the VFW post and we still meet there today.

Who was Dean LeClare Quigley (1923 - 2021)?

Very Worshipful Brother Dean Quigley, considered by all who knew him as the cornerstone of our Lodge, wasn't among the Charter Members but he was close, having joined the Lodge in 1955. Through his final year Dean remained active in all of the Lodge's activities.  Twice he served as Master of the Lodge and was the Lodge Secretary for 30 years.  He also held several Grand Lodge offices, served as District Deputy to the Grand Master for District 7, and was active in the York Rite concordant Masonic organizations.  In the community he was a founder of Mercer Island Community Services, a Post Commander for VFW#5760, and volunteered with the Boys and Girls Club, Junior Achievement, and the USO. All who met him were greeted with a smile, a warm handshake and often a joke.

He was a walking encyclopedia of Masonic knowledge and was strongly committed to helping other Masons learn about our Craft.  He frequently hosted dinners where small groups of Masons would gather to work on Lodge events or learn about different aspects of Masonry and he routinely passed out books, articles, and notes to the members to help generate ideas for the Lodge's education programs.

In honor of his kind, generous spirit and his enduring contributions to Masonry our Lodge was renamed to the Dean LeClare Quigley Lodge at Mercer Island #297, marked by the issuance of a new Constitution on December 2, 2021

Past Masters

1953-54  H.Robert Leise      1955 Arthur Tweeten         1956 Edger Hamilton 

1957   Sherman Diamond    1958 Charles F. Morris        1959 CW {Bill} Joost

1960   Frank H Nelson         1961 E Jaye Thompson      1962 Clyde J Vacchiery

1963   Duane T McDonald    1964 Lloyd E Page             1965  Irving L Nelson

1966   Dean L Quigley         1967 Raymond Emory        1968 Douglas G Smit

1969   Donald A Johnson    1970 Harry Greenwood       1971 Roger K Watts

1972   Kenneth W Neel       1973 Leo S Britt                 1974 Erling E Dokken

1975   Ross C Kellog          1976 Wayne L Pickering       1977 Clifford A Byrd

1978   Norton B Reynolds   1979 Victor A DeMarre        1980 E Jay Thompson

1981   Chester A Cook       1982 Dean L Quigley           1983 C Edward Kovacs

1984   William E Acomb      1985 Bernard Dubofsky       1986 Norman Dewing

1987  *Julian L Lee            1988 Duane "Bud"Engle     1989/90 *Julian L Lee

1991   Clifford A Byrd        1992/93 Jack H Robinson   1994 Robert K Witt

1995   Duane "Bud" Engle  1996 Walter J Stefan         1997/98 Donald K Olson

1999/2000 E Jaye Thompson 2001 *Steven L Paige     2002 James P Feltrup

2003  Pliny C Bristol          2004 *Steven L Paige        2005 E Jaye Thompson

2006/07 *Peter Geremes   2008/09 Jack Robinson      2010 *Steve L Paige

2011  *Cecil Stiles             2012 Dennis Wilkens         2013 *A Scott Anderson

2014  *John Gebhart         2015* Paul Hoeffer            2016 *Roger Barnstead

2017/18  *Dan Taylor        2019  *Tomas Aquino        2020/21 *A Scott Anderson

2022 *Doug Stamper     2023  *Denis OsmanBegovic  2024   *John Gebhart

* Denotes still living

Charter Members

C.L. Allen, Robert H. Berger, F. Berscchneider, R.Charles Borties, Williams  A Brown, J. Longino Butler, Malcolm Currie, Leonard Davis, Sherman Diamond, Alvin H. Featherstone, Noah Gerhasky, James M. Green, C. Fred Hagstrom, Edgar C. Hamilton, Ernest R. Hinton, Robert P. Hotelling, E. William Jensen, George W. Joost, Henry A. Langenham, H Robert Leise, Willmot Lilly,

W.A. Look, Evan McGilvra, Lee Marklund, Gerald Martin, Horace W. McCurdy, Charles E. McDonald, Duane McDonald, H.D. McMurtray, Loren McRae, Charles F. Morris, Robert Mulholland, Carl E. Nelson, Frank H. Nelson, Shannon O'Neil, Lloyd E. Pagel, Perry J. Reed, Nelson Rochester,Glenn Rotton

Douglas G. Smith, Arthur Tweeten, E. Jay Thompson, Clyde J. Vacchiery,

Lyle E. Wickstrom, Fredrick Wilson, John Wilson, O.C. Yates