Most Worshipful Brother Gilbert Benhamin Pfoutz

Most Worshipful Grand Master of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of Utah 1911.

Brother Gilbert Benjamin Pfoutz, the only son of John S. and Elizabeth Dennison Pfoutz, was born in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, March 17, 1864. He received his early education in the graded and High Schools of his native city. He entered the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, from which he graduated in 1888, receiving the degree of M. D. In the Fall of that year he crossed the Atlantic Ocean for the purpose of continuing his studies in European medical universities. Returning to Philadelphia in the Spring of 1890, he married Miss Helen Jarvis, May 21st. One son has blessed this union.

Inspired with the desire for a new field of action, Brother Pfoutz followed the advise of Horace Greeley and traveled west. He arrived at Salt Lake City in October, 1890, where he has ever since practiced his chosen speciality of eye, ear, nose and throat diseases. At the present time he is a member of the staff of St. Mark's Hospital, oculist to the Oregon Short Line, the S. P. L. A. and S. L. R. R. companies, and the Utah Light and Railway Company. In 1907 he was appointed by Governor Cutler a member of the State Board of Corrections, to which position he was reappointed by Governor Spry in 1909.

The home life of Brother Pfoutz is full of happiness and Sunshine. His residence, surrounded by a large lawn and tastefully arranged garden, is one of the prettiest places on East First South street. The largest room in the house is the library, the walls of which are covered with shelves filled with hundreds of volumes of the best selected ancient and modern literature. There is also in the room an organ and a piano which shows that he is not only a reader and student, but also a lover of sweet and enchanting music.

Brother Pfoutz saw his first Masonic light in Mt. Moriah Lodge No. 2, in which he was initiated November 11th, passed to the Degree of a Fellow Craft, November 21st, and raised to the sublime Degree of a Master Mason, November 23rd, in the year 1904.

The value and true grandeur of free Masonry made such a deep impression on Brother Pfoutz that he applied himself, immediately after his initiation, with energy and enthusiasm to the Work and Lectures so that he soon acquired a through knowledge of its sublime principles and tenets. But he did not rest with memorizing and studying the philosophy of the Degree work. He also delved in the history and ancient regulations of the Institution and the deeper he delved in all its phases the more grew his activity and interest in thee Fraternity.

During the year 1905, Brother Pfoutz was present at each meeting of Mt. Moriah Lodge No. 2, and his ability to fill every vacant place in it, together with his pleasing personality and affable manner, made him deservingly so popular among his Brethren that they elected him Junior Warden of the Lodge in 1906, Senior Warden in 1907, and Worshipful Master in 1908.

Brother Pfoutz made his first appearance in the Grand Lodge of Utah in January, 1906. At the session of 1907, he was appointed a member of the Committee on Obituary; in 1908, a member of the Committee on Lodges and was elected Junior Grand Warden. At the session of 1909 he was elected Senior Grand Warden and appointed Grand Lecturer by Grand Master F. C. Schramm. In the office of Grand Lecturer he worked with all the energy of which he is capable, and that is a great deal. He, being a finished and impressive ritualist, it is due to him that the Utah Standard work is now uniformly practiced in every Lodge in this Grand Jurisdiction. And that the Brethren still consider him the most perfect and efficacious Lecturer is evidenced by the fact that all of the newly elected Lodge Officers claim his instruction for the purpose of perfecting themselves in the Standard Work.

Brother Pfoutz does not permit parrot-like speech-making in conferring the degrees, but insists that every officer deliver his part so that it leaves an everlasting impression in the heart and mind of the candidate, and admonishes him to act as a Mason during his lifetime. He is indeed an ideal Lecturer.

He was elected Deputy Grand Master in 1910 and in 1911 Grand Master. His quick advancement from the day he stood for first time before a Masonic Altar, to the day he was elected to preside over the Craft in the Grand East, only six years and one month, has no parallel in the history of the Grand Lodge of Utah, and to the knowledge of this writer, in only one other Grand Lodge in the United States. There are men who are born Masons and Brother Pfoutz was one of them. Noble minded and generous, urbane and gentle, he has endeared himself to all with whom he came in contact. Well versed in Masonic History and Law, more especially the laws of the Grand Lodge, and a trained parliamentarian, the Grand Lodge of Utah during his administratorship will not need cast anchor for repairs.

Brother Pfoutz received the Capitular Degrees in Utah Chapter No. 1, R. A. M., Salt Lake City, as follows: Mark Master and Past Master, October 7th; Most Excellent Master and Royal Arch, October 27th, in the year 1908. He received the Council Degrees, February 23, 1909. He was made a Companion of the Red Cross in Utah Commandery No. 1, K. T., Salt Lake City, December 5th, and a Knight Templar and Knight of Malta, December 10, 1908. He was elected Junior Warden of the Commandery December 2, 1909, and Senior Warden December 1, 1910.

He received the Degrees of the A A S Rite from the 4th to the 32nd inclusive, at the seventh Reunion of the Salt Lake Scottish Rite Bodies, held April 23, 24, 25, and 26, 1906. He was elected Second Lt. Commander of Utah Council No. 1, June 18, 1908, First Lt. Commander June 17, 1909, and Commander June 16, 1910.

Brother Pfoutz has been and will continue to be a conscientious Mason and a living practical exponent of the moral tenets of the Fraternity.

Note: Brother Pfoutz died on January 2, 1936 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Ref: Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Utah, 1911, facing pages.

Electronically Transcribed as written without corrections to grammar or spelling by Aaron E. Saathoff, P.M., March, 2005.