IN MEMORY OF BROTHER DAN MEHN
The search for light can be obscured
By life and how we live it
But some we met, it shone within
A beacon brightly lit
Our Brother Dan, he had that light
And sharing was his boon
He showed the way it should be done
Oh Dan, you went too soon.
How could we learn all you had
to teach, you tried to show
Time is short, life is brief
Live well before you go.
BROTHER DANIEL JOHN MEHN
SUNRISE - JANUARY 14, 1937
SUNSET – OCTOBER 26, 2006
INITIATED HERMITAGE
LODGE #98 - 3/11/1958
PASSED 3/25/1958
RAISED 4/8/1958
MEMBER LOUISIANA LODGE #102
PLURAL GERMANIA #46 11/27/2002
WRITTEN BY IAN CAIRNS W.M.. GERMANIA #46 - 2007
Brother Dan Mehn and DeMolay
Brother Dan was born in 1937. In 1952 he joined the Order of DeMolay
and by 1955 was a Past Master Counselor of Concorde Chapter (the
oldest chapter in the city of New Orleans). From 1952 until the
day he passed away, October 26, 2006, he was part of the Concorde
Chapter. Upon reaching majority at the age of twenty-one he became
ritual adviser. This was followed by Dan holding nearly every major
position that can be held on a chapter board. But he always returned
to ritual. In the 1960’s DeMolay began the Tournament of Champions
in Dallas, Texas. As ritual advisor for Concorde Chapter, Dan Mehn
earned a national reputation by bringing home the Champions banner
the first four years in a row. Dan Mehn was instrumental in Concorde’s
recognition as one of the greatest ritual chapters of the twentieth
century. Dan created the Surrealistic DeMolay Degree, which Concorde
Chapter was invited to perform in 1969 for the 50th Anniversary
of the order of DeMolay. The degree left such an impression that
DeMolay International requested Concorde to return to Kansas City,
MO (the birth place of the Order) 25 years later to perform the
Surrealistic for the 75th Anniversary—once again it was under
the direction of Daniel Mehn. The 1980’s handed Concorde Chapter
hard times. However, Dan returned as ritual advisor in the 1990’s
to direct Concorde Chapter in the most important tournament of its
73 years of history—the 75th Anniversary Ritual Championship;
it would be Concorde against the rest of the DeMolay world, which
amounted to 50 states and 12 countries. Dan’s degree team
finished third and three of the young men brought home gold medals
for best parts in the DeMolay degree under Dan. Dan Mehn got the
best out of four decades of young men.
Dan Mehn was an active member of the International Supreme Council
of the Order of DeMolay. He was a member of this Council for over
thirty years and served on the Ritual and Regalia Committee, which
oversaw changes in official work. With the lean 80’s closing
most chapters in the United States, the Tournament of Champions
was a casualty. In the late 1980’s Dan, along with other Southern
advisers and advocates for DeMolay, began work on what is today
the Old South Tournament that is held each year to this very day
in the city of New Orleans. Dan coached advisors on aspects of being
evaluators and served one year as the director of the Tournament.
In true Dan Mehn fashion, with an inexperienced cast of young men,
Concorde having gone through its darkest period in its history in
the 80’s, and with both Dan and the chapter having not been
in a national competition in nearly fifteen years, Dan’s boys
won the Open Section of the DeMolay Degree at the very first Old
South Tournament.
Dan was the director of countless Leadership Training Conferences
across the country. From California to New England, Dan Mehn spread
the word of DeMolay, as well as the spirit of Concorde Chapter,
to literally thousands upon thousands of young men from sea to shining
sea. It was at these conferences that Dan’s reputation grew
from that of ritual marvel to that of mentor. Many of the young
men that Dan would come in contact with from across the country
would become dear friends of his. Dan Mehn held every major honor
that can be bestowed and awarded to a DeMolay. Yet the laurels of
his victories pale to this one fact: The comradeship that Dan formed
over his years of service, along with his mentoring of DeMolays,
are his greatest legacy to the order—from boys to young men,
from young men to leaders. This is the Dan Mehn I knew.
Faithfully submitted, Bro. Michael Williams, Jr. Concorde Chapter,
Order of DeMoley (paid for by Germania Lodge #46)
