The Degree of Chevalier
The Degree of Chevalier is the highest honor for distinguished DeMolay service within the gift of the International Supreme Council of the Order of DeMolay. Only one other honor, the Legion of Honor Degree for outstanding leadership and service to humanity, outranks the Degree of Chevalier. The Degree of Chevalier is the highest honor which can be bestowed on an Active DeMolay. The nominee must be at least seventeen years of age or older and have been a member of the Order of DeMolay in good standing for at least two years to be eligible for consideration for nomination. A Senior DeMolay is eligible to receive the Honor. The citation is for outstanding and marked DeMolay activity and labor.
The honor was created in 1936 and was granted initially in 1937. Originally, the minimum age was eighteen, then it was lowered to sixteen, and in 1968 the minimum age for nomination was seventeen and two years of membership in the Order. An Executive Officer may lower the age eligibility requirement to sixteen.
The Degree of Chevalier is awarded by the International Supreme Council at its Annual Sessions. Recommendation may be submitted by the Advisory Council of a DeMolay Chapter or of a Knighthood Priory, or by a Court of Chevaliers to the Executive Officer of the Jurisdiction (State). Each Active Member of the International Supreme Council shall have the right to make not more than one personal nomination each year. The Degree cannot be applied for, and the nomination must be made without the knowledge of the DeMolay who is honored. The unanimous vote of the Supreme Council in Annual Session is required to elect a nominee to the Degree of Chevalier.
Regalia includes a gold medallion with a bust in relief of Jacques DeMolay encircled by a ring of red enamel suspended by a gold cordon and a silver or gold ring work on the third finger of the left hand. Initially the medallion was suspended about the neck by a red rayon collar with a DeMolay emblem embroidered thereon.
Appended to Albert Pike Chapter No. 58 is Albert Pike Court of Chevaliers authorized Octover 15, 1940. Albert Pike Court meets annually on November 8 in a "Service of Remembrance."
The initial officers of Albert Pike Court elected October 15, 1940, were as follows:
Commander John Robert Salling
Commander in the West William Fain Sperber
Commander in the South Claude Edmund French
Secretary-Treasurer Karl Eugene Baer
Chevaliers have a statewide organization, the Texas State Court of Chevaliers, organized in 1938 and presided over by a State Commander. The Chapter and Albert Pike Court were honored when the following named Chevaliers were elected and installed State Commander of the Texas State Court of Chevaliers:
Reese L. Harrison, Jr. 1962-1963
Clinton Murray McDonald McKenzie 1998-1999
James Arthur Rodriguez 2003-2004
Mark Edward Williams 2005-2006
Douglas John Van Griner 2018-2019
Paul Alexander Canales 2019-2020
Albert Pike Court was honored in 1966-1967 when affiliated Chevalier and PIKC of Albert Pike Priory No. 38 Gerald Franklin Nowotny, PMC of Harlandale/Harry S. Truman Chapter No. 2169, served as State Commander, and again in 1991-1992 when dual chapter member Alexander Edward Blue, PMC of San Antonio Chapter No. 3591, served as State Commander. Affiliated Chevalier by merger and Past Chapter Advisor Everett Edward (Buster) Williams is a Past State Commander of the Texas State Court of Chevaliers serving in 1996-1997. PIKC and Past Priory Advisor of Albert Pike Priory No. 38 Kent Bradley Crickard is a Past State Commander of the Texas State Court of Chevaliers serving in 2000-2001.
The Officers of Albert Pike Court of Chevaliers include the following Chevaliers, all of whom, except the Sergeant-at-Arms, are elected for three-year terms, in years evenly divisible by three. The Sergeant-at-Arms is appointed by the Commander to serve for a three-year term.
Albert Pike Court of Chevalier
Officers
Commander Douglas John Van Griner, Chev., PSC, PSMC, PSIKC, LOH, COH
Vice Commander Garrett Matthew Ethridge, Chev., LOH, KT, RD
Secretary Paul Alexander Canales, Chev., PC, PSC, PSMC, PSIKC, LOH, COH
Treasurer Jared Avery May, Chev., LOH, KT, RD
Sergeant-at-Arms Christopher DeJesus, Chev., LOH, KT, RD
PAST COURT ADVISORS
J. Floyd Smith 1967-1986
Lincoln Andrew Hershey 1987-1998
Harry Sinco 1998-2010
Paul Albert Tolar 2010-2016
Robert C. Madison 2017-Present
PAST COMMANDERS OF ALBERT PIKE COURT
John Robert Salling 1940-1957
Harold George Schlierer 1957-1975
Reese L. Harrison Jr. 1975-2007
Larry Gene Wallis 2007-2011
Everett Edward Williams 2011-2016
Paul Alexander Canales 2017-2019
Douglas John Van Griner 2019-2022
PAST COMMANDERS IN ALBERT PIKE COURT
Jack Whiting McGuire Jr. Central Texas Court 1953-1954
Reese L. Harrison Jr. Central Texas Court 1959-1960
Curtis Noland Strong Jr. Central Texas Court 1960-1961
Maunty Charles Collins Central Texas Court 1961-1962
Harold George Schlierer Central Texas Court 1962-1963
Gerald Franklin Nowotny Central Texas Court 1963-1964
Lee Cornell Bucknum Central Texas Court 1968-1969
Reese L. Harrison Jr. San Antonio Court 1968-1970
Richard Gerald Schoenert Central Texas Court 1970-1971
Robert Frederick Schoenert Central Texas Court 1971-1972
Gerald Franklin Nowotny San Antonio Court 1971-1972
Alexander Edward Blue San Antonio Court 1987-1995
Clinton Murray McDonald McKenzie San Antonio Court 1995-1998
Mark Edward Williams San Antonio Court 2001-2004
PAST STATE COMMANDERS
Reese L. Harrison Jr. 1962-1963
Gerald Franklin Nowotny (Harlandale Chapter No. 2169, PIKC of Albert Pike Priory No. 38) 1966-1967
Alexander Edward Blue (Dual Chapter Member from San Antonio Chapter No. 3591) 1991-1992
Clinton Murray McDonald McKenzie 1998-1999
Kent Bradley Crickard (PIKC and Past Priory Advisor of Albert Pike Priory No. 38) 2000-2001
James Arthur Rodriguez 2003-2004
Mark Edward Williams 2005-2006
Douglas John Van Griner 2018-2019
Paul Alexander Canales 2019-2020
PAST STATE VICE COMMANDER
Lee Cornell Bucknum 1939-1940
PAST STATE COURT TREASURER
Robert Lynn Jett 1993-1996
PAST STATE COURT SECRETARY
Alexander Edward Blue (Dual Chapter Member from San Antonio Chapter No. 3591) 1992-1993
ALBERT PIKE COURT OF CHEVALIERS
CHEVALIERS FROM ALBERT PIKE CHAPTER NO. 58
1937 Lee Cornell Bucknum
1937 Jack Viggo Busbee*
1937 John Philip Dunsmore
1937 George Benjamin Davis
1937 William Madison King Jr.
1937 John Bernard May
1937 Vincent Chris Stucke
1937 Robert Harrie Travis
1937 Alfred Herman Watts**
1937 Wilton Bland Zedler
1938 Albert Frederick Grimm Jr.
1939 Claude Edmund French
1939 Billy Ross Hill
1939 John Robert Salling
1940 Karl Eugene Baer
1940 Jack J. Casper Jr.
1940 William Fain Sperber
1941 George William Casper
1941 Arthur F. Geisler Jr.
1941 Daniel Joseph Keuper
1941 Robert Emerson Lee
1941 Asa Rogers Sowell
1942 Robert Sterling Giles
1942 George Kenneth Harcourt
1942 Andrew David Reeh
1942 Edward John Shields Jr.
1942 Norman James Thomson Jr.
1943 Ferd Bertram English
1943 Henry R. Geron
1943 Frank Hoover Long Jr.
1943 Martin Luther Moody
1943 Harold George Schlierer
1944 Thomas Lloyd Allen
1944 Robert M. Geisler
1944 Earl Gorden Glenney
1944 Ray Franklin Katzmark
1944 James Joseph Tafolla III
1945 Billy C. Crandall
1945 Augustus L. Hardy
1945 William Allen Seipel
1945 John Francis Tafolla
1946 John Henry Achilles
1946 Thomas Henry Boothe Jr.
1946 Henry Martin Crain Jr.
1946 Ben Richard Hendley
1946 William Edward Paris
1947 Jack Allen Achilles
1947 Jerry M. Dietert
1947 Theodore Dorsa Jr.
1947 J. C. Nickens
1948 Don Edward Legge
1948 Frank Brantley Scott Jr.
1948 David Lee (Buddy) Stewart
1948 Billy Ray Trimmier
1948 Clinton Oscar Weilbacher
1949 James Overton Gillis
1949 George Alston Stovall
1951 Malcolm Ray Dixon
1951 Lonnie Keahy
1951 Jack W. McGuire Jr.
1951 Robert Schwarz
1951 Jack Scott
1951 Herbert Joe Yoehle
1952 John Gibb Fraser
1952 James A. (Tex) Kilcrease
1952 Houston Russell Wade
1952 Fred E. Wortham Jr.
1953 Robert B. Cocke Jr.
1953 Curtis George Hathaway
1953 Robert E. Magers
1953 Thomas Barret Schmidt
1955 Howard Lee Fanning
1955 Travis Craig Ferrill
1956 Robert D. Green
1956 Kennard Daniel Kinney
1956 Earl Wayne Johnson
1956 Jesse James Witte
1957 Craig Manley Bell
1957 Reese L. Harrison Jr.
1957 Robert George Honts
1957 Ronald A. Wilson
1958 Ernest Ray Boehnke
1958 William R. (Rusty) May
1958 Curtis Noland Strong Jr.
1958 Donald H. Wilson
1958 Glen M. Wogstad
1959 Maunty Charles Collins
1959 John Carl Everly
1959 William Stewart Franz
1960 Michael John Davis
1960 Martin Oliver Kralik
1960 Robert George Moody
1960 John Robert Poole
1961 Bobby Joe Dunlap
1961 Ronald Sherwood Lester
1961 William Jolly MacKeen
1961 Marvin Elliott Richmond
1961 Felix L. St. Claire III
1962 Robert William Conrad
1962 Frank Erwin Emmett Jr.
1963 Russell Hyatt Sinco
1963 William Jeremy Stringer
1964 Frederick Leroy Glassford
1964 David Ray Katz
1964 Phil B. Padgett II
1964 Oscar Knox Pruitt
1964 Lloyd Ray Ward
1965 Donald Rayford Barnett
1965 William Woodrow Best
1965 John Rees Haley
1966 Gail L. Alexander
1966 Ronald Jay Murray
1966 Gary Bruce Omura
1967 Gary Lee Henderson
1967 Richard Gerald Schoenert
1967 Perry Max Smith
1968 John M. Barnett
1968 Craig Alan Blaising
1968 Howard Ted Buehring ###
1968 Phillip David Goodwill
1968 Robert Frederick Schoenert
1969 Michael Lee Austin
1969 Robert Edward Cooper
1969 Phelps E. Littlepage #
1969 Adrian James Worthey ##
1970 George D. Baumgardner
1970 David Wayne Poole
1970 Glen Charles Naylor
1971 John William Stoker
1971 Gregory James Wool
1972 Ronald Linn Bowling
1972 Eric Rowland Ruff
1973 Juventino Benavidez Jr.
1973 Kenneth H. Fletcher
1973 Don A. Tedder Jr.
1974 William Scott Myers
1975 Vernon Harold Moeller
1976 Grant Mitchell Eckhoff
1976 James Walker Todd
1976 Martin Lee Virgil
1976 Michael Phillip Virgil
1977 Everett Andrew Amman Jr.
1977 Gary Lynn Hammac
1977 Carl Barrow Huante
1977 Charles Randall Williams
1978 Robert Raymond Ferguson
1978 Brian Anthony (Tony) Naylor III
1978 Elijah Hugh Overfield
1979 Clarence Franklin Moseley
1979 Dixon David Powell
1979 Larry Gene Wallis
1980 Stephen Charles Duncan
1980 Daniel Hardin Howell
1980 Paul Harry Earl Moose
1981 Adam Morales Apolinar Jr.
1981 Larry Alan Bruner
1981 Robert Lynn Jett
1982 Anthony Morales Ornelas Apolinar
1982 Frank Louis Carrillo
1982 Robert William Woerner
1983 Donald Eugene Rogers Jr.
1983 Douglas Cal Thacker
1984 Aubrey Eugene Brown III
1984 Robert Douglas Chism
1984 James David Rose Jr.
1984 Scott Alan Spurlock
1985 Oliver Booth Chamberlin III
1985 Richard Hugo Magers
1985 John Douglas Rose
1985 Charles Marcus Stewart
1986 Shan Brooks Hutchison
1986 David Lee Riley
1986 Joseph Donald Rose
1986 Roy Coleman Schweers
1986 Robert Chris Maier II
1987 Brian Patrick Caza
1987 John Louis Collier
1987 Karl Arthur Drescher Jr.
1987 Adam Sanchez Garcia Jr.
1988 Adam Thomas Brann
1988 John Russell Rhoades
1988 Clinton Murray McDonald McKenzie
1989 Andrew Scott Hackard
1989 Peter Michael Paceleo
1989 Clay Henry Stewart
1990 James Archie Damon
1990 Travis Tyson Karlin
1990 Ronald Christopher Kinney
1990 Jonathan Jay Marcus
1990 Michael Reese Spohn
1990 Franz Michael Von Hoffmann
1991 Joseph Dean McCracken Jr.
1991 Jimmy Wayne Murphy Jr.
1991 James Arthur Rodriguez
1991 Robert Christian Scholwinski
1992 Thomas Edward Foster
1992 Jaime Garza
1992 Jacob Patrick Limon
1993 John David Stelling
1993 Nicolia Lawrence Alexander Wiles
1994 David Thomas Foster
1994 Mark Andrew Guajardo
1994 Mark Edward Williams
1995 Pedro Arturo Alanis
1995 Duane Edward Beville
1995 David Travis Kelly
1995 Erick Nogueira Romero
1996 Joseph Cirilo Alvarado
1997 Karl John Bishop II
1997 Darren Douglas Dietzmann
1997 Daniel Joseph Ramirez
1997 Michael Roy Stewart
1998 Patrick Wayne Crocker
1998 Michael Anthony Keller
1998 Douglas John Van Griner
1998 Christopher Andrew Zertuche
1999 Michael Francis Vincent Thornton
2000 Brandon Stuart Marshall
2000 Jared Avery May
2001 Eric Muncies Guzman
2001 George Edward Pandzik
2001 Matthew Scott Recko
2002 Christopher Bryan Bishop
2002 Gabriel Byron Cornyn
2002 James Louis Gaither, III
2002 Zachary Allen Henson
2002 Charles Edward Maddox
2002 Cody Daniel Murphy
2003 Jonathan Michael Huth
2003 Scott Byron Funari
2003 John Steffen Pandzik
2003 Jason Ryan Wickery
2004 James Douglas Carnes, Jr.
2004 Robert Paul Herbig
2004 Christopher Anthony Kircher
2004 Ryan Neil Russe
2005 Michael Scott Lavender
2005 Troy Leland McGath
2005 Jaymes Baldomero Tamayo
2006 Steven Michael Beasley
2006 Paul Alexander Canales
2006 Derek Hassett Davis
2007 Jacob Beltran
2007 Christopher De la Cruz De Jesus
2007 Jackson Ray Driggs
2009 David Leon Dacbert
2009 Aaron Scott Recko
2009 Marshal William Trede
2011 Joseph Matthew Castillo
2011 Samuel Kristopher Martinez
2011 Matthew Kyle Smith
2012 Roy Kevin Gollahon
2012 Terrence Aaron Gonzalez
2012 Weston William McCall
2013 William Gregory Wright
2014 Jeremy Jordan Gueits
2015 Malik Kwane Barrow
2015 Tyler James Cagle
2015 James Ryan Landers
2015 Richard Adam Montemayor
2016 Ethan Adam Graham
2018 Xavier A. Garza
2019 Christian Lee Coleman
2019 Zachery Taylor West
2020 Charles Alan Kee
2020 Ruben Perez Rodriguez
* Declined the Honor # Recommended by Elmer J. Reese Chapter No. 2843
** Resigned ## Recommended by William M. Randolph Chapter No. 3562
###Recommended by S.P. Waltrip Chapter No. 1957
AFFILIATED CHEVALIERS
Year Year
NAME CHAPTER Affiliated Granted
John Victor Lietch Reagan Chapter No. 203 (Demitted from Court 1961) 1960 1939
Gerald Franklin Nowotny, PSC Harlandale Chapter No. 2169 1964 1960
Orval Richard Rose Indianapolis Chapter, Indiana 1980 1977
James Lee Bruner Hayward Chapter LT No. 2809, Wisconsin 1980 1979
Alexander Edward Blue, PSMC San Antonio Chapter No. 3561 (Dual Chapter Member) 1982 1981
Earl Frederick Frandsen Honolulu Chapter No. 1265, Hawaii 1985 1939
Robert LeRoy Morris, PSMC Robert LeBruce Chapter, Washington, D.C. 1991 1957
Michael Vincent Thornton Corpus Christi Chapter No. 611 1996 1996
Bennett Elliott Purity Chapter No. 650, Kingsville, Texas 2018 2018
Garrett Matthew Etheridge San Antonio Chapter No. 3591, San Antonio, Texas 2018 2006