ODD FELLOWS PACIFIC LODGE #86 WASHINGTON, MISSOURI

Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Pacific Lodge #86

 

Pacific Lodge #86 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows was established at Washington in 1855, making it the oldest fraternal organization in Washington.  The name Pacific was chosen due to the fact that the founding members were employees of the Pacific Railroad which had arrived at Washington that same year. The nearby town of Pacific was at that time known as Franklin.

 

Odd Fellowship originated in England.  The name was derived from the fact that it was considered “odd” that groups of people met for the purpose of charity, first and foremost. In 1819, Thomas Wildey established the first Odd Fellows Lodge in the United States at Baltimore, Maryland.  Within just a few decades, Odd Fellowship spread throughout this country and became one of the largest fraternal societies in the world. 

 

In 1865, the Lodge was ten years old and a couple of members had died.  Following the commandment of Odd Fellowship to bury the dead, it was decided that a cemetery be established.  The Lodge purchased about four acres of ground west of town along what was then the Pottery Road, today the street name is Wildey Way.  A cemetery was then neatly platted and among the earliest burials was bodies relocated from other graveyards.  In the 1940’s an additional acre was purchased from the Jasper family. The cemetery’s landmark pagoda was erected in 1912 as a memorial to all deceased Odd Fellows buried therein. In the early 1990s, our new lodge building was erected on the grounds of the cemetery.

 

Because our lodge is located within the cemetery, we care for the cemetery and the columbarium. We sell graves, arrange for burials and have an annual, historical Cemetery Tour to help raise funds for the cemetery care. The IOOF Grand Lodge of Missouri, choose our cemetery to erect a columbarium to house the remains of unclaimed cremains from within Missouri. The columbarium building was completed in 2013. The cremains mostly arrive from funeral homes because they were never claimed by family members. All of the cremains are documented by us, posted on Find a Grave and researched to check if any are veterans. Each year, we take the veteran cremains to Jefferson Barracks to be buried and have a military service. Some of the cremains are located through Find a Grave by family members, who come forward to collect them. We currently have 36 members. Not all members attend the meetings, but many do and are involved in the work we do.

 

Our Face Book page is washmoioof, if you follow Face Book. We meet every 1st and 3rd Monday evenings at 7pm from the first Monday of September to the third Monday of June. The lodge “goes dark” during July and August.

 

To apply for membership, complete the form below and mail it to the address at the bottom of this page. You may receive a call to be interviewed by one or two members in order to have a member as your sponsor and for us to learn more about your interest in or organization. Once received, the lodge members vote whether to accept you as an initiate. You will be contacted after the decision has been made. Once a date for initiation is chosen, usually on a meeting night, you are taken through all the degree work in one evening to become a full member. You are taught the secret passwords, handshake, and the teachings of the lodge. 

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