Brenneman, Wilhelm make 33rd Degree Mason

By Mike Ford, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Wednesday, September 16, 2009 (6 months ago)
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Delphos residents Tom Brenneman, left, and Dennis Wilhelm made 33rd Degree Masons earlier this month.DELPHOS — Two local members of Freemasonary were recently honored with one of its highest degrees during a ceremony in Massachusetts.
Tom Brenneman and Dennis Wilhelm of Delphos were invited to become 33rd Degree Masons, having climbed the ranks of the fraternal organization since the early 1970s. They describe their involvement:
“I started in 1974 here in Delphos with Hope Lodge 214. I’ve been master of the Blue Lodge, High Priest of the Spencerville chapter, Illustrious Master of Delphos Council 72, Imminent Commander of Ivanhoe Commandary 54, the Knights Templar of Van Wert, Worthy Patron of Delphos Chapter 26 Order of the Eastern Star five times, Master of the Lodge four times, Illustrious Master of Council three times — that’s like president of the organization — and I’ve been District Deputy Grand Master of the Tenth Masonic District,” Brenneman said.
Wilhelm has also been in the group for a while.
“I’ve been in the Masonic fraternity since 1970. I’ve been active and have been through all of the York Rite Bodies in Van Wert and here in Delphos, there’s a Blue Lodge and Council. Blue Lodge is the basic degree, the basic body of a Masonic fraternity. You have to belong to the Blue Lodge in order to join anything else. Scottish Rite is another form like an appended body of the Masonic fraternity,” he said. “Normally, you don’t get 33rd Degree unless you’re a politician or something. A lot of politicians get it for what they do for the community or you get it for the amount of traveling and work you do within the body itself. It’s really a great honor. I didn’t expect to get it.”
Of approximately 125,000 Masons in Ohio, the two local men were the two of three from the northwest Ohio region to be included in the 11 who were chosen for the degree. Kenneth Anspach of Van Wert also received the degree.
“The 32nd Degree is what you can apply for but very few get the 33rd. You have to be invited, you can’t apply and say ‘hey, I want to be a 33rd’,” Brenneman said. “They only do it once per year and it’s conferred by the Supreme Council in Lexington, Massachusetts.”