This is the highest individual honor that the Supreme Council bestows. It is voted very rarely to Thirty-third Degree Masons only for the most exceptional and extraordinary services. The Grand Cross cap is white with a blue band. On the front is a replica of the Grand Cross Jewel, which is composed of a Teutonic Cross, with an embroidered crimson rose with green leaves at its center.
Ill. William Jerald Burfitt, Sr., 33°
Grand Cross of the Court of Honour at age 75 years, 9 months, and 3 days
Tenure present
Nomination by Huntsville, Alabama Scottish Rite Bodies
Born: December 16, 1942 – present
General Secretary of the Valley
Progress in Scottish Rite Masonry:
- 4°-14°: October 11, 1980, invested by Huntsville Lodge of Perfection, Huntsville; 15°-18°: October 11, 1980, invested by Huntsville Chapter of Rose Croix, Huntsville; 19°-30°: October 18, 1980, invested by Huntsville Council of Kadosh, Huntsville; 31°-32°: October 18, 1980, invested by Huntsville Consistory, Huntsville
- 32° KCCH: October 16, 1989; 33°, IGH: elected October 18, 1993; coroneted by Ill. Karl Reed, II, 33°, Sovereign Grand Inspector General for Alabama: December 11, 1993
- Grand Cross of the Court of Honour: August 19, 2017
Scottish Rite Biography:
Brother Burfitt was raised a Master Mason in Apollo Lodge, No. 921, in Huntsville, Alabama. He joined the Scottish Rite Valley of Huntsville and became a Master of the Royal Secret on October 18, 1980. In October 1989 he was invested with the rank and decoration of a Knight Commander of the Court of Honour, and on December 11, 1993, coroneted a 33° Inspector General Honorary by Ill. Karl Reed, II, 33°, Sovereign Grand Inspector General for Alabama. On August 19, 2007, Ill. William Jerald Burfitt, Sr., 33°, received the highest honor of the Supreme Council, the Grand Cross of the Court of Honour.
Bibliography:
– Archive of the Supreme Council, 33°, S.J.