Herman F. Gehring

Herman F. Gehring was born about 1888 and lived in Houston from the age of five. He received his degrees in Gray Lodge in 1913: the Entered Apprentice on June 6, the Fellowcraft on July 22, and the Master Mason degree on October 21. He served as Senior Steward in 1915–1916 and Senior Deacon in 1916–1917 and was elected Senior Warden for 1917–1918, under John H. Crooker.

He was installed as the 47th Master in 1918 in a joint installation of Holland No. 1, Temple No. 4 and Reagan No. 1037, with District Deputy Grand Master J. Dixie Smith installing and Past Master J. T. Slaughter as Marshal. He led the lodge through the last months of World War I and one of the hardest seasons in Houston’s history.

In October 1918 the influenza epidemic closed churches, schools and theaters, and only 22 Brethren attended the October stated meeting, the Secretary noting that the lodge “deemed it best to have [only] enough present to conduct business.” On October 18, 1918, Brother W. L. Simmons was killed in action in France, the only member of Gray Lodge to lose his life in the war. A week before the Armistice the lodge named a committee to help build Masonic rest and recreation halls at Camp Logan and Ellington Field, and on the day the war ended it buried Past Master William Liberty Lane with a Knights Templar escort.

With peace came a flood of petitions. The lodge held its raising day in March 1919 and by late spring was conferring degrees from afternoon into late evening to keep up; on May 24 alone it raised nine Master Masons. It also recorded its first reference to a Brother’s cremation, repaired and deeded its lots at Glenwood Cemetery, and helped two young women continue their studies at Baylor.

After his term he stayed active. In 1919, in keeping with the Grand Master’s orders, he obtained and destroyed a cipher ritual that had been offered for sale, and in 1921 he was vice-chairman of the lodge’s fiftieth anniversary committee. He was a 32° Scottish Rite Mason and a member of Arabia Temple. He died on May 28, 1947, at the age of 59, and was buried in Washington Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, Willilee, two daughters, two sons and a grandchild.