John L Palmer 1997 Most Worshipful Grand Master Grand Lodge Free And Accepted Masons Of TN

John Lawrence Palmer was born May 24, 1949, in Jackson, Tennessee, the son of John Billie and Ann Palmer of Union City, Tennessee where he grew up and attended public schools, graduating in 1967, He and his wife Glenda, are members of the First Baptist Church of Nolensville, Tennessee, where they currently reside. They have one son, Lawrence. John is retired from Bellsouth and from Electronic Data Systems where he worked in information technologies and as a communications engineer. Brother Palmer was received into the Order of DeMolay in 1963, served as Master Councilor of Union City Chapter in 1966, and is an active member of the DeMolay Legion of Honor. He was raised to the degree of Master Mason in 1970 in Union City Lodge No. 538 after having received his Fellowcraft degree in Cookeville Lodge No. 266 as a courtesy. He transferred his membership to Hiram Lodge No.7 when he moved into the community of Franklin, Tennessee in 1973 after graduating from Tennessee Technological University with a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering. He has served twice as Master of Hiram Lodge and as the charter Worshipful Master of Conlegium Ritus Austeri Lodge No. 779. He served as Grand Master of Masons in Tennessee in 1997 and as Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge in 2005 and 2006. Nationally, he chaired the Commission for Information and Recognition of the Grand Masters Conference of North America in the year 2002, served on the Board of Directors of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, and the Masonic Information Center of the Masonic Services Association. He is a founding fellow of The Masonic Society and is Chief Adept of the Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis in Tennessee. He served all the York Rite Grand Bodies in Tennessee as Grand Sentinel from 1978 until 1992, is a holder of the Knight Templar Cross of Honor, and has been designated a Knight Grand Cross of the Temple by the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar U.S.A. where he serves as managing editor for the Knight Templar magazine. He is a Knight of the York Grand Cross of Honor and holds the Order of the Purple Cross in the York Rite as well as the 33° degree in the Scottish Rite.

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