Page 100 - 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

P a ge | 99