WSC History - Knights of Columbus Washington State Council

PREFACEThis book is offered to the general public and to the Knights of Columbus in order to publiclyrecognize the many thousands of dedicated men who, in their lives and their work, have fulfilled thehigh Christian standards expected of them by the Church, the State and the community.The publication of the history of the Washington State Council of the Knights of Columbuswas authorized by State Deputy Harry J. Tucker Jr in May, 1980. George C. Turk, then StateAdvocate, was appointed to complete the history. To condense the then 76 years of history of theState Council into one volume would be a monumental task, not only to gather the information, but toavoid over-looking many who had made worthwhile contributions.In the many articles herein, it is obvious that the strength of the Order has been the zeal of itsindividual members inspiring others within their councils, in unity with them. This is a chronicle ofwhat our members have accomplished on behalf of the Order. We have attempted to set down thefacts as clearly and as succinctly as possible within the restricted talents of the editor. Nothing hasbeen set down with any malice in mind.The gathering of the events has made us feel most humble, but at the same time, proud of anysmall contribution that we might have made. The nature of the State Council as an organization ofvolunteers without any central records depository made collection of information quite difficult.Much information was lost because it was in the possession of a Knight who died and the widow, notknowing its significance and importance, simply discarded it.We want to acknowledge other sources of information, articles and other documentation. In1949 the State Council published a booklet "Knights of Columbus, Washington State Council, 1904-1949" compiled by PSD's Stephen A Cain, John B Soule, W George Hoffner and Gerard S. Welch. Itwas largely a compilation of the Proceedings of the State Council 1904-49 but was definitely ofassistance.We are indebted to Supreme Secretary Charles P. Riesbeck; Supreme Council MembershipDirector Larry Mitchell; Patrick Brennan and Tim Hickey of the staff of Columbia; MarylouCummings, Curator of the Supreme Museum and Sue Brosnan, Archivist in the Museum. Withoutthe information and pictures supplied from Supreme Council resources with their cooperation thishistory would be much leaner.We are also indebted to Mrs. Georgette Logan, widow of PSD Edward J Logan, forinformation and documents on the early history of the State Council. Past State Deputy Charles A.Sohnly has been a great help, especially during the final year of preparation. A printer prior to hisretirement, his advice and assistance in formatting, composition and production has been invaluable.We would suggest that each local council keep its own history current and know where all of itsrecords are stored. We further suggest that the State Council establish and maintain a permanentrepository for all its essential records. Even now there are years for which we have no "Proceedings"of the annual convention.If the reader has found his knowledge expanded and felt impressed by the quality of the workof the Order of the Knights of Columbus in Washington, we will consider our task a success. Wetake pleasure in dedicating this book to those Brother Knights who have gone before us. Theirdiligence and commitment to the Church and to the Community appears self-evident in the contentsof this book. May we all do as well.George C. Turk PSD, Historian (1990)