Dean Quigley’s Masonic Lodge legacy to be honored November 5
Written by Claire Gebben
Former longtime First Church member Dean Quigley, who passed away a year and a half ago, February 17, 2021, will be honored Saturday, November 5, 2022 at 11 a.m. in a ceremony on Mercer Island at the VFW Hall, 1836 72nd Avenue SE, Mercer Island, WA 98040, with a reception to follow. The remembrance and commemoration ceremony is the long-awaited official recognition that the Mercer Island Masonic Lodge #279 has been named The Dean LeClare Quigley Lodge now and in perpetuity. (Earlier ceremonies were postponed due to the COVID pandemic.)
Church members may remember Dean for his constancy as a church usher, for his warm smile, his “senior citizen money clips” (a soda can tab wrapped around a penny) and his always friendly welcome. Some may not know that Dean’s volunteerism and generosity extended well beyond First Church. Dean was a WWII veteran and, once retired from Boeing, he became a weekly volunteer at the USO Northwest Center at SeaTac, a center that offers free coffee, companionship and more to military personnel passing through Seattle’s airport. He also was a founding member and long time supporter of Mercer Island’s Youth and Family Services, which offers emergency, youth and family assistance to Islanders in need.
The Masonic Lodge #297 Freemasons named their hall in memory of Dean as “the cornerstone of the Lodge who always had a joke and a warm handshake to all he encountered. … He was Master of the Lodge several times as well as District Deputy of the Grand Master for District 7 as well as holding several other positions. [He is being honored as their] most devoted member of the Craft.”