125th Year Observance, part 9: Theodore Meriam

Theodore "Ted" Meriam

Ted Meriam, singularly, stands out in the Masonic history of Chico Lodge No. 111.  Most representative of the vertical view of our Blue Lodge's life, Ted was raised to Master mason on December 3, 1940, and served as Master of Chico Lodge in 1946.  in 1958, he was appointed Grand Orator of the Grand Lodge of California.  He was elected Junior Grand Warden in October, 1961, Senior Grand Warden in October, 1962, Deputy Grand Master in October, 1963, and on October 16, 1964, he was elected Grand Master of California Masons.

Not only has Ted filled those august offices through which his election honors this Lodge which raised him, but he is a leader, lecturer, author and historian as well.  A sought after advisor on Grand Lodge committees, Ted has served for many years on the important Policy and General Purposes Committee.  While serving on the Masonic Information Committee, he authored the widely circulated pamphlet "If Freemasonry Is Good Let Us Talk About It."  Many times this Lodge and other Masonic bodies in Chico have been the benefactors of his speeches and research.

Ted was born in Chico on April 18, 1910, and he has lived in this community all of his life, except for the two years spent at Stanford University completing his degree in economics.  From January, 1932, until July, 1978, he was continually employed at M. Oser & Company, becoming a partner and later the President of this long established retail company.  He has been active in business, civic, and municipal affairs, even serving a ten-year term as Mayor of Chico.  He was also, in 1958, the President of the League of California Cities.  He served for over ten years on the prestigious Board of Trustees of California State Colleges, serving as its Chairman in 1968-69.

He is a member of the York Rite Bodies in Chico, of the Scottish Rite Bodies in Sacramento, and belongs to Ben Ali Temple of the Shrine, Sacramento.  he has been awarded the honorary 33rd degree of Scottish Rite Masonry.  He is a member of St. Francis Conclave of the Red Cross of Constantine, San Francisco, and he holds plural membership in Sincerity Lodge No. 132 at Greenville.  The "1965 Proceedings in the Grand Lodge of California" reports that Ted "has been an outspoken advocate of individual responsibility by all Master Masons for the welfare of Freemasonry...He has stressed that Freemasonry is an institution of Quality, of Dignity and of Substance."