Page 103 - PGM Compendium

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Of
M⸫W⸫ Elmer L. Foss

1978-1979

Most Worshipful Brother Elmer LeRoy “Roy” Foss was born
October 11, 1918, the second of four sons born to Mr. and Mrs.
Henry Foss of Jasper, Minnesota. He left us on January 14, 2001.
Early in his life the family moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota,
where Roy was educated in the public school system. He attended
Sioux Falls College for two years.

Because of the unrest in Europe, he discontinued his education to
enlist in the 4th Cavalry Division of the United States Army. His
stories of horses and his marksmanship regularly provided
entertainment for his friends. He was known to shoot perfect scores from horseback with a pistol.
He transferred to the Army Air Corps in 1939 where he was trained as an airplane mechanic. When
World War II started, he volunteered for Aerial Gunnery School and flew fifty combat missions
over Europe as a gunner on B-24 Bombers. Returning to the US, he attended Cadet Training School
and became a flight engineer on larger bombers. When propeller driven aircraft were phased out,
he again attended the Aviation Cadet Program and graduated as a Navigator. He was one of the
few selected to attend Aircraft Performance Engineering School and was then assigned to Combat
Operations for Jet Bombers and Tankers. He retired from the Air Force in 1960 with the rank of
Captain.

He and his wife Mary Jane operated a ceramics business in Spokane for 20 years He later sold the
business to devote full time to his Masonic interests. Roy married Mary Jane Luchsinger of Sioux
City, Iowa, in 1940. This union was blessed with two children, Betty Voltz of Chewelah, and a
son, Roger, of Spokane, and several grandchildren. Roy and Mary Jane were together for 42 years
when Mary Jane passed away in 1980.
His Masonic journey began in Spokane Lodge No. 34 in 1948. After serving through the various
chairs, he was elected Worshipful Master in 1967 and again in 1993. He was appointed Deputy of
the Grand Master in District No. 27 for 1970-72. He was appointed Junior Grand Deacon in 1972,
served on the Bi- Centennial Committee in 1973, and was appointed by Most Worshipful Brother
Clyde Mix to serve as Grand Marshal for 1974-75. At the Annual Communication of Grand Lodge
in 1975 he was elected and installed Junior Grand Warden. He became Grand Master in 1978. In
his address at installation, our Grand Master shared these words: ”Let's not take off our Masonry
with our aprons, at the close of Lodge - But, rather, let's take our Masonry to the shut-ins, the
afflicted and the sojourner, who, for reasons of health, age or distance from Lodge, have not
attended Lodge.”

Roy was a member of almost all Masonic bodies, including 38 Lodges around the world. He was
truly an international ambassador for Freemasonry. Alaska and the New Zealand - Australia area