Charles Robert Gaines

Charles Robert Gaines was born at Marshall, Texas, on November 25, 1926. He received his degrees in Oak Cliff Lodge No. 705 in Dallas in 1960: the Entered Apprentice on April 15, the Fellowcraft on July 18, and the Master Mason degree on August 23. He affiliated with Gray Lodge on September 2, 1964, was appointed Senior Deacon for 1965–1966, and was elected Senior Warden for 1966–1967.

He was installed as the 96th Master in 1967 by A. M. Cole, Past Master of his mother lodge, Oak Cliff No. 705, and a Past District Deputy Grand Master of the 14th District, with Past Grand Master Claud L. Austin as Installing Marshal. Hubert A. “Baldy” White, Past Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Georgia, gave the address.

John K. Mooney of the Committee on Work led a special session of instruction in the Master Mason degree on July 31, 1967. In September Senior Deacon Roland E. English introduced members of the Houston police force at a lodge meeting. That October the lodge approved the Centennial Committee’s plan for Dr. D. D. Tidwell to write the history of Gray Lodge, approved a new lodge for the Cypress-Fairbanks area, and helped outfit young Richard Wall on his admission to the Masonic Home and School. The lodge’s Hillcroft property was briefly placed on the tax-exemption rolls for 1968 before the county ruled fraternal lodges ineligible.

The spring of 1968 brought a notable run of speakers: James H. Goettee of the Houston Public Schools; Victor A. Browning on Scottish Rite Night; Grand Master J. W. Chandler on Masonry by Example at Past Masters’ Night, March 25; Houston Mayor and Brother Louie Welch on Firemen’s Night; and William E. Mattison, Potentate of Arabia Temple. Brother A. E. Gadberry refinished all the woodwork in the building, and on May 18, 1968, a robed team from Worshipful Master Gaines’s mother lodge, Oak Cliff No. 705, came from Dallas to confer the Master Mason degree on Sidney Patrick Victory, Jr., a future Master of Gray Lodge, with Past Grand Master Austin among the visitors.

Brother Gaines remained active after his year in the East, speaking to the lodge on law and order and serving as Master of Ceremonies when Grand Master J. Guy Smith visited the 30th Districts in January 1969. He was a 32° Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the 12°, 14° and 29° degree teams.