Who was M. W. Bro. Don Beattie?
As is the case with a great many of the men who have passed through the ranks of Freemasonry, by the time Most Worshipful Brother Don Beattie’s Masonic Journey began in 1987 he had already established himself as a man of distinction and honor.
Born Donald Wayne Beattie on July 6, 1941 in St. Boniface (now Winnipeg) and raised on the family farm in Oakbank, Manitoba, Don enlisted in 1962, serving in the RCAF as a pilot, test pilot and instructor. In 1963 he married Judy Colwell and together they raised two children, Greg and Heather. While stationed at Portage la Prairie Don was active in trail and endurance riding with Morgan and Arabian horses. He and Judy also raised and showed German Shepherd dogs.
Following his discharge from the RCAF Don pursued a teaching certificate for carpentry at Red River College where he received the Lieutenant-Governor’s Medal for contributing to school spirit in his first year of apprenticeship and was later awarded first place at the International Carpentry Competition in Philadelphia in 1978. He retired in 2000 after years teaching a Building Construction program at PCI. Following his retirement Don remained active in his trade, serving in different capacities for several carpentry and trade organizations.
MW Bro Beattie was Initiated into Freemasonry in Assiniboine Lodge No.7 on August 17, 1987, Passed on September 17, 1987 and Raised to the Sublime Degree by his father on November 16, 1987. He was elected WM in 1993 and served as No.7’s Secretary/Treasurer for several years. He was a charter member of both Union Historical Lodge No.108, which he labored over from its inception and served as WM for the 1998-2000 term as well as Manitoba’s only research lodge, Hiram Abiff Lodge of Research No 191.MW Bro Beattie was an active member of nearly every concordant body of Freemasonry. He was JRC Evans Lecturer for 1995-96, served as DDGM for the Second Masonic District in 1997-98 and elected to the Board of General Purposes in 1998. MW Bro Beattie was elected Junior Grand Warden in 2001 and served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba A.F.&A.M. for the 2004-2005 year. As a result of his involvement with Freemasonry, MW Bro Beattie began volunteering as a Masons Care driver upon his retirement in 2000, providing transportation for cancer patients to and from treatments as part of a Grand Lodge of Manitoba Special Committees initiative that continues to this day.
MW Bro Beattie’s gift for teaching wasn’t limited to flying and carpentry and as such Assiniboine No. 7’s Brethren benefited greatly from the regular instruction they received from him. Later the entire jurisdiction received those benefits when MW Bro Beattie became a major contributor to and editor of Masonry in Manitoba in 2011. MW Bro Beattie was a Builder in the truest sense both operatively and speculatively, a true Mason of the highest degree.
To quote one of the many Brethren MW Bro Beattie’s efforts had a profound effect on; “Throughout the years MW Bro Don Beattie enriched the lives of many with his gentle and knowledgeable leadership. His wisdom and strength of character have been greatly inspirational to both the members of our gentle Craft and to the many others, both young and old, whose lives he touched. Happy to meet, sorry to part, happy to meet again…”
MW Bro Don Beattie passed to the Grand Lodge Above on January 2, 2015 as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident in December of 2014.