If you ever spent 5 minutes talking to Dad Frank Kell, you were going to hear about LSU football, Frank Sinatra, or DeMolay. Dad Kell has long been a supporter of the Order of DeMolay and the DeMolay Foundation. When talking about how Dad Kell joined DeMolay, he said “one day he (my father) was reading a paper and told me to fill it out. Now back in that day nobody should question their father. I did not know what DeMolay was about but he gave me the paper to fill out, which turned out later to be my petition for DeMolay. Never thought anything else about it; forgot about it. Then one Saturday, about 4:00 in the afternoon, he said go in the house; take a bath and put on some good clothes as we are going to town. Well those opportunities to go somewhere with your Dad in our situation were very limited. I did exactly as I was asked to do. And away we went! Next thing I know we were in this beautiful building in downtown Shreveport. I didn’t know what it was, found later it was the Scottish Rite Building and I wasn’t alone. Five other gentlemen, young men my age, we were being initiated into the Shreveport Chapter, Order of DeMolay.”
When Dad Kell was an active member of DeMolay, he once had the opportunity to meet Dad Land. “When I was an Active DeMolay & Dad Land was Imperial Potentate of the Shrine of North America, Dad Land came to Shreveport to visit the first Shriners Hospital built in the World. We had a regular meeting that Wednesday night Dad Land was in Shreveport and he came for the meeting. I took my Mom’s Kodak box camera & asked Chuck to get a photo of us meeting Dad Land.”
Dad Kell was a longtime supporter of the DeMolay Foundation, served as the chairman of the DeMolay Foundation Scholarship Committee for many years. When asked about the scholarships that the Foundation gives out, and the committee that he chaired, he said “I wish we’d had more money to give but we don’t have it. You have about 25 to 30 thousand a year in scholarships. So we try to do the best we can with what we have.”
When asked about what advice he would give our readers, he said “Take the time, make the opportunity to visit with these kids because they are the future of this country. Anything you can give to them and guide them or suggestions that will make them a better person — which in turn will make this country strong again. It is up to the adults of today to encourage the youth of today as they are the adults of tomorrow. They are the future!”
We will soon be releasing the full interview with Dad Kell, so check back in the future to read the full transcript.