Bro. Burl Ives: A Visit To His Final Resting Place

by Midnight Freemasons Contributor

Gregory J. Knott

Final resting place of
The Ilustrious Burl Ives, 33rd Degree

"When you've set goals and dreams, you don't feel old."

~The Illustrious Burl Ives, 33°

Magnolia Lodge No. 242, California

I was driving to my wife's family's house in southern Illinois and I had the opportunity to stop and visit the cemetery in which American folk singer Burl Ives is buried. He is one of my favorite singers of all time, and I had the opportunity to see him perform in 1981 when I was Scout attending the National Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill Virginia.

Bro. Ives had a long association with freemasonry:

Brother Ives was involved in Freemasonry as a youth, becoming a DeMolay on December 5, 1927. Then, after moving to California, he petitioned Magnolia (now Magnolia-La Cumbre) Lodge No. 242.  In 1977, he joined the Scottish Rite Bodies of Santa Barbara, California, becoming a dual member in the Valley of Bellingham, Washington, in 1990. In recognition of his many services to our Order, he was invested with the Rank of Knight Commander Court of Honour in 1985, coroneted an Inspector General Honorary in 1987, and elected a Grand Cross by The Supreme Council in 1993.


Appropriately, the passing of Ill.·. Bro.·. Ives was marked by a memorial service held, under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of F. & A. M. of California on May 4, 1995, at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in Los Angeles. Also, following graveside services by the Reverend Stephen Willis, Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Newton, Illinois, the officers of The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of A. F. & A. M. of the State of Illinois assembled on May 15, 1995 at Mound Cemetery to conduct a memorial service of the Craft for Brother Ives as a courtesy to his home Lodge, Magnolia-La Cumbre No. 242, of Santa Barbara, California. The cremains of Bro.·. Ives were then placed in the grave.


As I walked through the Cemetery, I noticed that several other members of the Ives were also buried there, including his parents Frank Ives 1880-1947 and Cordella Ives 1882-1954, both of whom were associated with Masonry and Order of the Eastern Star. Their graves are right next to Bro. Ives.

The gravesite of Burl Ives' parents Frank and Cordella--
both active in the fraternity

~GJK

Gregory J. Knott is the Past Master of St. Joseph Lodge No. 970 in St. Joseph (IL) and a plural member of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), and Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL). He's a member of both the Scottish Rite, and the York Rite, and is the Charter Secretary of the Illini High Twelve Club in Champaign-Urbana. He's also a member of the Ansar Shrine (IL). Greg is very involved in Boy Scouts--an Eagle Scout himself, he serves the Grand Lodge of Illinois A. F. & A. M. as their representative to the National Association of Masonic Scouters.

Sam The Snowman: Freemason Or Not?

Ever since Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer premiered on NBC in 1964, it has been rumored by conspiracy theorists that "Sam the Snowman" was in fact a Freemason.  I mean he did know an awful lot about the story considering he wasn't actually a part of it. As additional evidence, there are also a number of fuzzy photographs of Sam whispering in Rudolph's ear, and a very suspicious handshake between Sam on one of Santa's elves. 

But it is true--"Sam the Snowman" a.k.a. The Illustrious Burle Ives, 33° was indeed a Freemason.  And now, boys and girls, you know why nobody knows how Santa delivers all those packages in one night. It's a Masonic secret!

Merry Christmas!

~TEC

Trivia: A Few More Fun Facts About Famous Freemasons

Everyone seemed to enjoy the last trivia post, so here's a few more fun facts about famous Freemasons.

Burl Ives

-Burl Ives was once jailed in Utah for vagrancy, and for singing a lewd song while entertaining a group on a public street with his banjo.  He later recorded the song "Foggy Foggy Dew" and it became one of his most popular songs. 

Douglas MacArthur

-Douglas MacArthur's mother was known to be somewhat overprotective of him.  When he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1898, his mother accompanied him.  She stayed in a hotel so close to her son that she could check on him with her telescope to make sure he was studying in his room as he should be.

Roy Rogers

-During the depression, Roy Rogers (then Leonard Slyes) and his father found themselves among the economic refugees who traveled from job to job, picking fruit and living in worker campsites--some of the the same campsites John Steinbeck described in his famous novel The Grapes of Wrath.

Harry Houdini

-As a boy, Harry Houdini had a natural aptitude for locks.  He used to unlock and relock all the cabinets in his family's home with a buttonhook.  In fact, he was later somewhat notorious as the little boy who had unlocked all doors of the shops in his hometown one evening.

Colonel Harlan Sanders

-Before he became famous for his eleven herbs and spices, Colonel Sanders had worked as a soldier, a streetcar conductor, a lawyer, and a gas station owner.  He learned to cook at a young age out of necessity.  He took care of his brothers and sisters while his mother worked in a canning factory.

If you enjoyed these, there are a few more here.  And of course these and many more stories and interesting facts about famous Freemasons can be found in my Famous American Freemasons series.

~TEC