AARON WILCOX BORN IN HINSDALE, RAISED IN DOWNERS GROVE • FATHER TO SON LUCIUS, 14, & DAUGHTER LYRA, 11 • WORKS AS A MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER IN HOMER GLEN • MARRIED TO SARA
Aaron Wilcox said his passion for the past led him to the Freemasons, the world's oldest fraternal organization, about two decades ago.
"Many times in my studies of history, I kept finding people that were masons that were involved with these important stories," Wilcox said, citing Simón Bolivar, Voltaire and Benjamin Franklin among the more notable figures.
He also learned that a number of his own ancestors were masons, including his father. His dad's best friend, another mason, recommended Wilcox join Hinsdale Masonic Lodge #934, located on the second floor of 40 S. Washington St. The chapter was established in 1911, but Wilcox said the organization's local roots reach back closer to the village's founding in the late 19th century.
Wilcox, who now lives in New Lenox, quickly discovered a place that encouraged self-development and community service.
"We gain tools to use in order to work on improving yourself and as it relates to society at large," Wilcox said. "In order to really absorb the teachings, you have to be humble and really suppress your ego."
Belief in God or a supreme being is foundational, he noted, but it's not necessary to profess allegiance to a particular faith. Many of the teachings are rooted in construction principles dating back to the middle ages, invoking expressions like "square dealing" and acting in an "upright" manner.
"The lessons that we teach are natural lessons, really," he said. "We can correlate those moral teachings into how to be a better person and building a better society around us."
Initially accepted as an Entered Apprentice - the degrees take their name from medieval times - Wilcox rose to Fellowcraft and ultimately to become a Master Mason, the third degree.
Wilcox has a background in architecture, but a wide range of career fields are welcome and represented among the lodge's 150 some members.
"We have doctors, lawyers, those in international finance and one who works on the luggage crew at O'Hare," he said. "We all pride ourselves in believing ourselves to be equal to one another after the third degree.
The skull and crossbones are an oft-used symbol of the organization, not to project anything sinister but to keep members grounded in the temporal nature of life.
"The skull and crossbones remind us of own mortality," Wilcox remarked.
Philanthropy is a central value of the organization, he said, to provide those less fortunate with the building blocks for a better life. Meals on Wheels and DuPage PADS are two of the longtime beneficiaries of the lodge's giving.
"And we serve meals on Christmas Eve morning at the Daybreak Shelter in Joliet," he said.
Lodge business meetings are held twice monthly. Most of the organization's proceedings are for members only, but Wilcox said the public is invited to ceremonies when the lodge's new senior warden, or leader, is being installed.
Wilcox credits his journey as a mason with fortifying his character.
"My dad would always say to my wife, 'You may not like that he goes to the meetings, but it's because of freemasonry that he's as good a man as he is,' " he said.
- story by Ken Knutson, photo provided
