Roth to be installed as top Mason

On June 16, at its annual celebration in Red Deer, the Grand Lodge of Alberta will install David Roth, a member of Camrose Lodge, as the Grand Master for the following year.

"The Grand Master oversees 125 lodges in the province," said David. "There are about 7,000 Masons in the province. You have to be elected three years in advance to be the Grand Master and work your way up. It is like being a second vice-president and then the first vice-president before receiving the top role. In our case, it is junior grand warden, senior grand warden, deputy grand master and then grand master."

David was born and raised in Camrose, and graduated from Camrose Composite High School in 1964. After graduating with honours from NAIT in Architectural Technology, he attended the University of Oregon where he met and married Teresa. Both of them graduated with professional degrees in architecture and moved to Montreal in 1972 where they lived and worked for nine years. In 1981 the family, including their sons Jonathan and Andrew, moved to Edmonton where David practiced Architecture and Teresa was an instructor in Interior Design Technology at NAIT.

After working for several years on his own, David joined Mickie Holland to form the partnership of Holland Roth Architects. David enjoyed working on historic restoration projects, which eventually brought him to Camrose to work on the Bailey Theatre and the Camrose Main Street Project. David and Teresa moved to Camrose in 2007 and David retired from the practice of architecture in 2011.

David started his Masonic service in 1985 when he joined Commercial Lodge in Edmonton.  He was Worshipful Master of Commercial Lodge in 1997 and District Deputy Grand Master of Beaverhills District in 2001-02.  He joined several other Masonic organizations along the way including the Royal Arch Masons, Knights Templar and the Shriners. He is also a member of the Royal Order of Scotland and the Red Cross of Constantine. In 2010, David was coroneted a 33 degree Honorary Inspector General of the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of Canada.  He is a member of Camrose Lodge and Mt. Olivet Chapter of Royal Arch Masons in Camrose, as well as the Battle River Shrine Club. He also rides his motorcycle with the Widows Sons Masonic Riding Association.

David is a third generation Mason.  His father became a Mason in Radisson, Saskatchewan, was a member of Camrose Lodge and Worshipful Master of Orion Lodge in Penticton, B.C. David’s grandfather was a Past District Deputy Grand Master in Saskatchewan and was a member of the Wawa Shrine Temple in Saskatchewan with John Diefenbaker.