 Past Grand Master Of New Jersey
Retired Director Of Hospital Visitation,
Masonic Service Association Of The United States
MW Thomas R. Dougherty was raised to the Sublime Degree of
Master Mason in Mount Moriah Lodge #28 F&AM in Bordentown, N.J. on June 30,
1948. After spending 11 years in the chairs he served as Worshipful Master in
1961. He was appointed Grand Marshal in 1963 serving under Most Worshipful
Horace D. Carl. In 1964 through 1967 he served as District Deputy Grand Master
of the Nineteenth District.
In 1968 he was elected Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge
of New Jersey, serving as senior Grand Warden. Deputy Grand Master in the
succeeding years and being elected and installed as Grand Master in 1971.
In 1971 he was elected Chairman of the Board of the N.J.
Masonic Home in Burlington, N.J. He was elected Chairman of the Grand Master's
Conference Committee 1972.
In 1973 he was asked to organize a statewide Blood Bank,
which has been in operation and successful ever since. He has been active on
many Grand Lodge Committees, such as the Budget and Finance; the New Jersey
Statewide Blood Bank; Grand Master's Advisory Board which he has served as
Chairman for four Grand Masters. He is currently serving as Chairman of the
Grand Lodge Committee on Dispensation and Warrants, and Advisor to the state
wide Blood Bank.
Tom is a member of the Royal Arch Masons, Council and
Commandery and Knight Companion; Red Cross of Constantine St. Stephen's Conclave
in Haddonfield, N.J. He is also a member of the George Washington Association of
New Jersey; a member of the Tall Cedars of Lebanon, Trenton Forest #4; member of Crescent Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S., Trenton, N.J. He was coroneted a 33rd
degree Mason in Chicago, Illinois in September 1979. He is charter member of the
District of Columbia HI-12 Club and is a Honorary member of Takoma Lodge #29,
F.A.A.M. in the district of Columbia; Bethesda Lodge #204 in Maryland; Oriental
Lodge #430, Muskogee, OK.; Alt Heidelberg #821, Heidelberg, Germany: Putnam
Lodge #46, South Woodstock, CT. and 35 lodges in New Jersey.
He was recently made an Honorary member in Perpetuity of Old
Dominion Chapter #364, National Sojourners, Inc., in Springfield, Virginia; and
Walter Reed Chapter #303 Bethesda, Maryland. He is a member of "Light Horse
Harry Lee Camp," Heroes of '76. He has been elected to the Royal Order of
Barrow Whistlers International, which has a limited membership of 100, by
invitation only.
Tom is the Grand Representative of the Grand Lodge of
Illinois near the Grand Lodge of New Jersey. He is an Honorary Past Grand Master
of the Grand Lodge of Alabama, Tennessee, South Dakota, Kentucky, Oklahoma,
District of Columbia, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon,
Michigan, Mississippi, Alaska, the Goose and Gridiron Club of Alaska and the
American Canadian Grand Lodge in Germany, this is only the second Honorary P.G.M.
given by that Grand Lodge.
Among his many honors is: the Daniel Cox Medal from New
Jersey; the Pierpont Edwards Medal in Bronze for Distinguished Service, and the
only out of state recipient of the Pierpont Edwards Medal in Silver for
Distinguished Service from the Grand Lodge of Connecticut; the Josiah Hayden
Drummond Medal for Distinguished Service from the Grand Lodge of Maine; the
Philip C. Tucker Medal from the Grand Lodge of Vermont; The Henry Price Medal
from the Grand Lodge Of Massachusetts; the James Mercer Medal (one of four ever
presented), from the Grand Lodge of Virginia; the Valentine Reintzel Medal from
the Grand Lodge of the District Of Columbia; the Legion of Honor Award from the
Chapel of the Four Chaplains in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.; also holder of the
De Molay Legion of Honor and the Grand Cross of Color for the Grand Assembly of
the Rainbow for Girls.
After his retirement as president of Thomas R. Dougherty Real
Estate and Insurance Company in 1980, he accepted the position as Director of
Hospital Visitation for the Masonic Service Association of the United States.
After thirteen years of service he retired as the National Representative of the
Masonic Fraternity to the Veterans Affairs Voluntary Service (VAVS) Executive
Committee.
Tom is married to the former Norma Ennis. They have two
children, a daughter Kerry and a son Thomas, and six Grandchildren. Tom and
Norman are members of Pearson Memorial United Methodist Church where he has
served on the Administrative Board and as a Trustee, and is active in many Civic
projects in the Bordentown Trenton area.
Information submitted by:
R.W. Robert Stutz PSGM |
