Donor Profile: Mrs.
Matsue Yamazaki Dewese

Earl E. Ihle, Jr., 33°
Director of Development

Barbara G. Golden
Director of Planned Giving

Photo: ©Maxwell MacKenzie, Washington, D.C.

This story profiles Mrs. Matsue Yamazaki Dewese in recognition of her recent, very generous gift.

We are pleased to thank a very special person for the following article. Our guest contributor is Mary Ann Cole, the wife of Ill. James D. Cole, 33°, SGIG in Virginia. Mary Ann is a close friend and neighbor of Ill. George E. and Matsue Y. Dewese, the subjects of the following essay. Through this article, Mary Ann is pleased to pay tribute to Brother George and his wife, Matsue. They are a truly outstanding Masonic couple who have contributed generously to a wide variety of Masonic causes. A brief biographical note about Mary Ann appears at the end of this article.

Original oil painting by Jean Pilk

The House of the Temple Historic Preservation Foundation, Inc., recently benefited from a generous gift from Matsue Yamazaki Dewese. Matsue has visited the House of the Temple three times in recent years, and, impressed with this most magnificent of Scottish Rite buildings, she wishes, through her contribution, to assure its preservation for future generations of Brethren.

Born on August 10, 1936, in Saitama, Japan, Matsue, at the age of four, moved with her adoptive family to Tokyo where she attended grade school. Matsue recalls the years during World War II as a time of many hardships, including a lack of food and medicine. After graduating from high school at age 15, she immediately began working two jobs, one as a housemaid and the other as a seamstress at a tailor shop.

Matsue met Ill. Brother George Everett Dewese, 33°, in 1962 while he was stationed with the U.S. Army in Japan assigned to the Corps of Engineers and the Signal Corp at Camp Drake near Tokyo. Impressed by the Masonic friendships and activities of his fellow soldiers while stationed in Tainan, Taiwan, George had petitioned Pearl River Lodge #3 in Tainan (later moved to Kaohsiung), Taiwan, R.O.C. When reassigned to Camp Drake, near Tokyo, George became a friend of an active Scottish Rite Freemason who happened to be Matsue’s supervisor in Camp Drake’s Supply Office. This Brother introduced George to the Rite and participated in the conferral of the Fifth Degree, Perfect Master, on Bro. Dewese in the Tokyo Scottish Rite Temple, now located in the Tokyo Masonic Center. As important, he introduced Bro. George to Matsue. Eventually, most of Bro. George’s dates with Matsue revolved around functions at the Center, located beside Tokyo Tower, or the small restaurant on the Center’s third floor, where the couple would frequently meet to enjoy meals together.

During a recent visit to the House of the Temple in Washington, D.C., Ill. George E. Dewese and his wife, Matsue, visited the Pillars of Charity Alcove where both their names appear on a plaque recognizing them as major donors to the Scottish Rite. A portrait of Ill. Dewese is displayed in the Scottish Rite Supreme Temple Architects Hall of Honor, and Matsue’s portrait was recently received into the new Pillars of Charity Portrait Gallery.

Almost everything Matsue knew about Masonry came from her relationship with Bro. George. At that time, most of the Masons in Japan were Americans, and many had Japanese wives. The latter became a tight-knit group. Among their new friends in this Masonic group were Ill. Henry Yaskal, a radio and television engineer who was a member of the Valley of Tokyo, and Ill. Brother James L. Johnston, 33°, who was a member of the same 1962 Scottish Rite Class as Bro. Dewese in Tokyo. Interestingly, Ill. Dewese was honored as a Supreme Temple Architect by having his portrait received into the Scottish Rite Hall of Honor in the House of the Temple in 2002; Ill. Yaskal was similarly honored in 2003; and Ill. Johnson was appointed Deputy of the Supreme Council in Japan in 2004.

In 1964, Matsue and George were married at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. Matsue came to America for the first time with Bro. George in November 1964. Initially stationed at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, for about six months, the couple had to separate, with Matsue going to Bassett, Virginia, to work in the Bassett-Walker Knitting Mill, while Ill. Dewese completed his military duties abroad in Thailand and Hawaii with a few stops in between and several visits back to the States to share happy times in Bassett with Matsue. Bro. George’s last station was, again, Fort Monmouth, where in 1969 he was honorably retired from his 22-year career with the U.S. Army.

At that time, the couple moved to their permanent residence, near the home of George’s parents, in Shawsville, Virginia. Matsue took a position at the textile factory in Christiansburg, Virginia, and in 1971 proudly became a U.S. citizen. In 1969, George had entered a second career, in electronic testing with General Electric in Salem, Virginia, and in 1972, Matsue also began employment at General Electric in Salem as a modular assembler. Bro. George retired from this position in 1989, and Matsue retired in 1996.

Despite her world travels, Matsue most appreciates her home in Shawsville, where she loves gardening and tending to her collection of stray cats adopted over the years. Matsue has been a member and enthusiastic supporter of the Salem Chapter #161, Order of the Eastern Star, Salem, Virginia, since 1974.

When first approached about having her Pillars of Charity Portrait Galley painting created by the noted artist Jean Pilk (see above), Matsue was reluctant. However, after giving consideration to the idea, she is now very excited, yet sincerely humbled, to have her portrait displayed at the House of the Temple so close to where her husband’s portrait is also displayed in the Scottish Rite Hall of Honor. Careful observers will notice that the background of each painting consists of Mount Fuji, a Japanese torii (the gateway of a Shinto temple), and cherry blossoms. This use of identical backgrounds is symbolic of the loving bond so deeply shared by this exemplary Masonic couple.

Matsue, like her husband, has worked hard throughout her life and has generously returned significant gifts to support youth, Freemasonry, and the Scottish Rite. Together, George and Matsue have established scholarships at high schools in southwest Virginia for deserving graduates and have been significant contributors to Radford University, Radford, Virginia, where they are also avid supporters of the Scottish Rite Summer Language Clinic and the PACES Mobil Clinic. In addition, they sponsor 18 Scottish Rite scholarships named in their honor and in honor of George’s parents, Ninevah Broombaugh Dewese and Daisy Ellen Dewese. The Deweses also recently contributed 270 acres near Shawsville to Radford University as a living laboratory for geology, geography, and biology students. This donation of land, called the George E. Dewese and Matsue Y. Dewese Scottish Rite Biological Preserve of Radford University, is representative of George’s and Matsue’s wish to give young people an advantage they never had themselves, the opportunity to go to college. While they do not have children themselves, over the years they have supported a number of young adults who, like children, have kept in touch and sent photographs which George and Matsue fondly collect and display in their Shawsville home.

Typical of their personal interest in youth, George and Matsue strongly support DeMolay International in Virginia, often attending the Hanging Rock Chapter of DeMolay and providing the young men with pizza and snacks. Similarly, they continually advance various other Masonic and Scottish Rite causes. The lives of Bro. George and Matsue are very fulfilled by helping others, and Freemasons everywhere are deeply grateful for the involvement and generosity of this outstanding Masonic couple.

Mary Ann Cole is the Resource Administrator for Career Services at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg. She also serves as newsletter editor and Web site administrator for various professional groups, charities, and her church. One of the first women in the country so trained, Mary Ann serves as an Advisor for Hanging Rock Chapter of DeMolay International. When her husband, Inspector James D. Cole, 33°, served a Grand Master of Virginia (2000-01), Mary Ann was a true helpmate in all things Masonic and even compiled a popular cookbook of recipes from the wives of Grand Lodge Officers. Always willing to be of service to the Craft, she continues her personal and effective assistance to a wide variety of Masonic endeavors throughout the Old Dominion State.

- Our Development Team -

Barbara G. Golden, Esq., is the team's Director of Planned Giving. Barbara is an attorney with experience in tax, corporate, and commercial real estate law. She managed a non-profit legal services organization for several years and has extensive experience in fund-raising, grant writing, and program operations. Contacts: Tel. 202-777-3163; Fax 202-884-0183; or call 1-866-GIVESRF (448-3773) Toll Free; bgolden@srmason-sj.org.

Earl E. Ihle, Jr., 33°, is the team's Director of Development. He has been a member of the Fraternity for 30 years and served in 1978 as Master of Lafayette Lodge, #111, Baltimore, Maryland. He is also a member of Boumi Shrine Temple in Baltimore, the York Rite, and a dual member of the Scottish Rite Valleys of Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Contacts: Tel. 202-777-3143; Fax 202-884-0183; or call 1-866-RITECARE (748-3227) Toll Free; eihle@srmason-sj.org. Dr.Thomas M. Boles, GC, is the team's Advisor on Philanthropies. A member of the Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Santa Ana Valleys, he has worked extensively in fund-raising for children's programs throughout our Fraternity. Contacts: Tel. 562-691-4227; Fax 562-691-5327; or call 1-800-SRMASON (776-2766) Toll Free; tboles@srmason-sj.org.