The following tribute to Gerhard Meinzer prepared by Shelley Arnold was originally posted on the German Society’s Facebook page on February 28, 2025.
It is with sadness that we report the death of our life-long member, Gerhard Meinzer.
Gerhard passed away on February 17th. The Officers, Board and Members wish to express their sincere condolences.
Gerhard was born on August 21, 1936, in Karlsruhe, Germany. During the formative years of his life he had a healthy and traditional German childhood. He was trained in the specialized field of stone and marble masonry, and he worked as an apprentice in masonry for three years. When he graduated from trade school in 1953, he had the groundwork to be one of the finest operative and speculative masons in the world.
Gerhard immigrated to Canada in 1959. He had to find work, make new friends, and learn English. He worked hard and found success. He became a member of the International Stone and Marble Masons Union at that time.
In 1961, Gerhard immigrated to the U.S. and chose to live in a Maryland suburb near Washington, D.C. He was often invited to work on building sites that became part of the architectural future of our nation, specifically the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the National Presbyterian Church and the Smithsonian Institute. The high quality of his work led to friendships and contacts and a position of leadership. He became part of many of the successful events sponsored by the Concord Club, the Washington Saengerbund, the German American Foundation and the Arminius Club No. 25, where he served as a Master Mason. Other accomplishments with the Masons, which he joined in 1982 was serving as Worshipful Master (87), Treasurer for many years and was recognized with the Knight Commander Cross of Honor and Inspectors General Honorary 33rd Degree Mason of the Scottish Rite.
- Gerhard also received the Arthur Sackler Gallery award from the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen in 1987.
- Gold Medal of Honor by Grand Master Claude Charbonniaud of the Grande Loge Nationale Francaise in 1994.
- Gold Medal of Honor by the Grand Lodge of Germany in 2015.
- German Embassy in Washington, D.C., Gerhard has been given the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany) and the Friendship Award of the Federal Republic of Germany in recognition for his service to German-American organizations and his encouragement of friendships between German and American citizens.
- The Association of Teachers of German Chapter Award in recognition of his continued support of the German Society of Maryland’s education program and by providing the funding for one student per year to participate in a study trip to German.