Jimmy Lee Revis, 32°

A son recollects the life of his father, a Mason, and all it has taught him.

Photo: Bro. J. B. Revis in U.S. Army Military Police uniform, France, World War II
On a cold January day 77 years ago, the last of six children was born to the farming family of Ulysses and Josie Revis. That child was my dad, J. B. Revis (pictured right). As he grew up, he experienced all of the pranks and ribbing associated with being the baby of the family, and I am sure the hard-scrabble nature of living off the land had a great deal to do with forming the integrity and character of the man I was to one day call Dad. He never had enough to eat, never had new clothes to wear, and had to walk for miles each day to attend school.

When World War II broke out, he soon answered the call to arms and joined the United States Army. After attending various military training schools in the U.S., he boarded a troop transport ship and headed for Great Britain. After months of additional training and waiting, Dad participated in the D-Day invasions at Omaha Beach in northern France. After landing on the beach, he and his fellow soldiers fought their way through Europe as part of the greatest expeditionary force ever assembled. Returning after the war as a hero to the small farming community in upstate South Carolina that he had left to enter the war, Dad went back to school to get his high school diploma, and he began a working career that lasted for the next four decades. He does not speak about his experiences during the war very much, which is characteristic of those who participated in the war and saw more action than they want to remember.

During the years I was growing up at home, Dad always worked hard and provided well for his family. He was fiercely proud of each of us and would never fail to stand up for his principles. He demonstrated a great devotion for God and his country. Integrity and honesty were taught to us by example, and correction of any deviations was swift for his children. As I grew up, I marveled at the courage demonstrated each day by this man I called Dad.

In the 1960s Dad joined the Masonic Lodge, the York Rite Masons, and the Oasis Shrine Temple in Asheville, North Carolina. These meetings and ceremonies seemed very mysterious to me as a child, but I thought that if Dad had joined these organizations, there must be some great value in being a part of them. When I finished college and, like Dad before me, went off to serve my country in the U.S. Navy, I harbored a desire to join the Masonic Lodge as well. After I settled in Charleston, S.C., as my home port, I asked Dad how I could become a Mason. He became the first-line signer for my Lodge and Shrine petitions. The most poignant moment of my life occurred when, in the completion of my Third Degree work, I was raised by the man I regard as the bravest and best man in the world, my Dad.

There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about my Dad. I think of the old family photo album and the photos of me and Dad, where he always had his hand on me. I think of the lessons of life he taught me. I think of the great Masonic Fraternity he helped me join and of the Scottish Rite which we petitioned together in 1976. I think of the courage and integrity he demonstrated every day of his life. I think of the strength and love he showed to each of us. Dad, I just hope that when I am 77, my two sons can judge me as having just half the courage you have shown me. If they can, I’ll feel like I have successfully passed on some of you to them. I love you, Dad.

Jimmy Lee Revis
was raised a Master Mason in Bailey Lodge No. 146, Greer, S.C., became a 32° Mason in Greenville, S.C., and a Noble of Hejaz Shrine Temple in 1976. He had the good fortune to be raised by his father, to attend all Scottish Rite Degree work alongside his father, and to be initiated into the Shrine by his father. He is Director of Engineering for Henry Medical Center, Inc., in Stockbridge, Georgia.