NCOIC for security for almost two year and retired soon after. After retirement from the Air Force, I started working toward what would be my second career. In 1975 I enrolled in Community College with the objective of burning through my G.I. Bill without an identi- fied degree goal. Later that year, I went home to help my brother with my father ’ s living situation. My father was diagnosed with Alzheimer, and we needed set his affairs in order which required power of attorney and placement of my father in a nursing home. He lasted about 6 months and then he passed away. Which was sad because he was only two years removed from retiring from the steel mill. He had hardly been sick a day in his life, and his decline and death happened in a few short months. SGIG Matthews : That's always a hard trip when you must visit your loved ones right before their death. SGIG Blue : Yes. What I remember from around those times is one of the Potentates from Aswan Tem- ple contacted me. He is the only one that ever to my knowledge came out of Berlin. He was stationed in Berlin while he was Potentate of Aswan Temple #115. His name was Steven Starks. On my way back to Pennsylvania, I had caught a hop from CA and while I was in DC he made contact. And he asked me some questions about whether I was receiving disability and whether I was using my GI Bill. He also explained to me that I was eligible for vocational rehab. That program allowed me to get paid while I was in college. Because of his advice, I went on and graduated from college in 1977. I started working for the Department of Education in CA as educational program analyst, through some of my college contacts. The position required passing a state exam and the program did include learning opportunities for veterans. And I was part of that initiative until I retired the second time in 1998. SGIG Matthews : What about your journey as a Mason? SGIG Blue: My journey as Mason began in Berlin. The insight that I got there about the guys who were Masons was interesting. I knew a lot of them but didn't know they were Masons. The Masons had a Black and White Ball every year and it was one of the nicest things that was happening in Berlin. Their community work made me forget about some of the bad experiences I had in Wiesbaden in rela- tion to the Air Force and it allowed me to gravitate towards the social aspects of the organization in Berlin. I started off being interviewed and at the same time, my wife was interviewed. Some organiza- tions, some jurisdictions still used that approach today. This allowed the organization to get family in- put on your decision to become a Prince Hall Mason. This preempted any household conflict before it could start, which is a pretty good plan. That was my introduction to Masonry, and I had only been a Mason for a short time before I relocated to CA. Most of my Masonic background is here in Sacramen- to, 48 years total. Soon after I became a Master Mason, I had an opportunity to go to Africa to get my 32nd degree in 1971. When I heard about it, I was putting my money up because I heard you needed $500 to get ad- vanced. Turns out having the $500 wasn ’ t the problem. They turned me down and cited lack of experi- ence in Masonry as the problem. So, I didn ’ t go to Africa, and I kept on studying and training for the next opportunity. I was on my Lodge ’ s degree team that was designed to help other newly made En- tered Apprentices and Fellowcrafts as they came through and we ’ d meet up to study before or after work. So, I left Berlin as a Master Mason in 1973 and I joined my current Lodge after I went through a lot of hassle getting my paperwork so I could demit. In December of 1974 I became a member of David D. Mattock Lodge #87. It is one of the three Lodges here in Sacramento that I visited. Two of them had about 100 members each and the Lodge that I joined had 33 members on the roll at the time and they were about to take the Charter due to limited community activity. That has since change and my Lodge is currently the strongest Lodge of the three in the city today. Our members are engaged, and growth remains steady. We do have a lot of military people, so transition is a factor, but we ’ ve also had mem- bers pass away. Our current Worshipful Master is Bro. Mark Smith, and he is in his third year as Mas- ter.
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