board of directors

Sean Foran

Curator and Board President

Grace Dee May Museum

A native of San Francisco, Sean Foran enjoyed an extraordinary career in the field of education serving with the Los Angeles Unified School District. Foran served as a classroom teacher, District Advisor, Assistant Principal, Instructional Specialist, and as an LAUSD School Administrator.

As a Master Mason, Foran has held a large number of positions within the Masonic Fraternity. He is a Past Venerable Master of the Los Angeles Scottish Rite and served as Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of California, Grand Orator for Grand Council and Grand Chapter, and in 2006 was selected as the Commander of the Year by the Grand Commandery of California.

Foran served 10 years on the Masonic Memorial Temple Committee for the Grand Lodge of California. He was also tasked with reviewing and cataloging all artifacts at the Masonic Lodge No. 42 which stood across the Plaza from the Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument. Foran also established the American Heritage Masonic Museum in LA's Hancock Park District and was instrumental in the development and founding of the Henry W. Coil Library & Museum of Freemasonry in San Francisco.

Foran has enjoyed a lifelong marriage to his wife, Vicki. They have three children and two grandchildren.

Reyn Blight

Board Treasurer

Grace Dee May Museum

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Reyn Blight was a student at LA High School and Pomona College before attending UCLA Business School.

Reyn enjoyed a 30 year career with the City of Los Angeles specializing in community and economic development before his retirement. He remains active improving community life and has served as Chairman for the Los Angeles Development Authority, as President of the Greater Toluca Lake Neighborhood Council, and on the boards of a number of non-profit organizations. He is the Executive Director of the Entrepreneur Educational Center as well as serving as Treasurer of the Grace Dee May Museum Board of Directors.

Reyn is justly proud of his Masonic heritage. His grandfather was Grand Orator for the Grand Lodge of California in 1933 as well as being Past Master of Liberal Arts Lodge No. 677. Reyn followed in his grandfather’s and father’s footsteps by serving as Master of Liberal Arts in 1986 and in 2003. He is the recipient of the Hiram Award. Reyn is also a member of the Past Masters’ Shrine Club and has been active in Al Malaikah Shrine since the 1980s.

Reyn is married with three adult sons and makes his home in downtown LA.

Fred Davis

Board Secretary

Grace Dee May Museum

Born in 1957 in Los Angeles, Fred's family moved to Gardena in 1967 and he has lived there ever since. He attended Harbor College and Long Beach State University, majoring in Political Science. After working for US Steel he was hired by AT&T starting his career as a Service Tech until promoted to management. Fred worked field operations in South and Central Los Angeles, Gardena, Huntington Park, Pasadena, East Los Angeles, Glendale, and now El Segundo.

Fred comes from a Masonic Family and joined Gardena DeMolay in 1971, served as Master Councilor, and later as an Adult Advisor. He has returned to DeMolay as Administrator of Diamond DeMolay League. He joined Gardena Masonic Lodge and served as Master in 1991. Fred received the Hiram Award from his Lodge and served as an Inspector for the Grand Lodge of California and Junior Grand Deacon (2005-2006). A member of the Masons4mitts Program he raised funds to provide baseball mitts to inner city kids. Fred is an active member of the Shrine and is currently serving as Master of Redondo Lodge in Redondo Beach. He serves the Grand Lodge of California in Masonic Trials.

Fred was involved in Big Brothers, the YMCA, the Gardena Chamber of Commerce, the USO, and a member of the City Seniors Commission. He became involved with the Gardena Willows and is serving his 10th year as President. Fred is currently on the Board of Directors for Project SOY to provide employment opportunities for young people.

Ron Hopkins

Board Member

Grace Dee May Museum

Ronald Hopkins was born in Texas and attended the University of Texas at Austin, earning a Bachelor of Science and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering. In 1985 he moved to Los Angeles and joined The Aerospace Corporation, where he is currently employed as a Tech Fellow. In 2008 he was awarded the President's Award by The Aerospace Corporation for "outstanding commitment in providing the critical analytic foundation for major National Security Program Acquisition Decisions." Dr. Hopkins and his team developed a unique modeling and simulation capability which has provided the primary analytic support for critical, high-level national decision makers.

He was raised a Master Mason in 1980 and is a four-time Past Master of Los Angeles Lodge No. 42 and a recipient of the Hiram Award. He is a Past Venerable Master of the Los Angeles Scottish Rite and currently serves as Director of the Work. He served seven years on the Grand Lodge Legislative Analysis Committee, two of those as Chairman. He is also a member of the York Rite, Commandery, and Allied Masonic degrees.

Ron Hart

Board Member

Grace Dee May Museum

Currently Ron Hart is the Secretary of the Los Angeles Scottish Rite as well as
a Board Member of the Grace Dee May Museum. As an active Master Mason he has served
as presiding officer of countless organizations including serving as Master of Pentalpha Lodge (now Wisdom Lodge), the Scottish Rite, York Rite, Allied Masonic Degrees, and the Order of the Eastern Star. Throughout his Masonic career, Ron Hart has garnered numerous awards
for his service. His insights and ability to focus on problem-solving were strengthened by a career that has included logistics, commercial printing, the film industry, and public service.

Mel Stein

Board Member

Grace Dee May Museum

Melvyn B. Stein has a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree and Juris Doctor Degree. He retired from the private practice of law after 47 years having conducted cases in the California Superior Court, California Supreme Court, Federal District and Appellate Court as well as numerous administrative hearings. He has a life teaching credential for law in the California Community College system.

Mel has received his 50 year pins in Masonry, Scottish Rite Bodies (and coroneted with the 33rd Degree) and Shrine and served as Grand Master of Masons in California in 2006-7, Grand Orator of the California Grand Lodge, Chairman of the Grand Lodge Trial Review Committee and the Bylaws Committee, Potentate and Treasurer of Al Bahr Shriners in San Diego, Board of Directors of Shriners Hospital for Children in Los Angeles, 9 years on the Board of the California Masonic Foundation, Trustee of the California Masonic Homes, Venerable Master and Assistant Personal Representative of the Scottish Rite Valley of San Diego.

Mel has been active in his community having served on the San Diego County Civil Grand Jury, President of the Past Grand Jurors Association, County Parole Board, Board of Directors of the Honorary Deputy Sheriff’s Association, Federal Selective Service Board, Chairman of the San Diego Kiwanis Foundation, President of the Harbor Optimist Club, Board of Directors of the San Diego/Imperial Council of Girl Scouts, Chairman of the La Mesa Spring Valley School District Racial and Ethnic Balance Committee and the Board of Directors of both Pop Warner Football and Little League Baseball.

In 1973 he married his wife Betty and they have 2 sons and a daughter, all college graduates, 2 with Masters Degrees, and each of whom have contributed to their having 6 grandchildren.

As an active Tin Lizzie driver with the Shriners he enjoys parading in his scale model of a 1917 Model T and continues his participation in many organizations.

Barbara Weiss

Board Member

Grace Dee May Museum

Barbara was born and raised in northwestern Indiana close to Chicago. After graduating from high school, she attended Purdue University, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in education in 1973. While attending Purdue, she met Arthur Weiss and they were married in 1974. They then moved to Southern California, where he was employed as an aerospace engineer.

Barbara worked for Blue Cross as insurance claims adjuster until 1979, when they relocated to Florida for four years while Arthur worked on the Space Shuttle program at the Kennedy Space Center. They returned to Southern California in 1983 to live in Newbury Park, where they still reside. Their daughter, Lauren, was born in 1984.

Barbara then spent seventeen years as a Child Nutrition Supervisor for the Conejo Valley Unified School District in Thousand Oaks. She retired in December 2008. Shortly there after, Barbara became a Docent at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, and still serves in that position.

Barbara is active in Freemasonry, joining The Order of the Eastern Star in 1987. She served as Worthy Matron three times, as Deputy Grand Matron in 1998, and for the Grand Chapter of California as Grand Ruth in 2006. Barbara also served on the Guardian Council of Job’s Daughters International, Bethel #324 for eight years, seven as Guardian Secretary. She has enjoyed all of her Masonic endeavors, and performed the duties of first lady of California, when her husband served as Grand Master of Masons.

Margaret Jacob

Board Member

Grace Dee May Museum

Margaret Jacob was born in New York City, educated there and then at Cornell for her Ph.D. She has been an historian working in European history for over fifty years, having taught in British, Dutch and American universities until she retired from UCLA in 2018.

She has authored many books, largely on historical phenomena central to the development of Euro-American history: the English Revolution of the 17th century, the development of Newtonian science, the European Enlightenment, and the cultural origins of the First Industrial Revolution.

Her research unexpectedly took her to early masonic archives in Britain, The Netherlands and France. From them she has revised our understanding of the origins of Freemasonry and its relationship to the Enlightenment.

Relevant books include: The Radical Enlightenment: Pantheists, Freemasons and Republicans (1981), Living the Enlightenment. Freemasonry and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Europe (1991) and The Secular Enlightenment (2019).

Merrick Hamer

Board Member

Grace Dee May Museum

María Eugenia Vázquez Semadeni (Maru Vázquez)

Board Member

Grace Dee May Museum

Maru Vázquez was born in Mexico City, educated there and then at El Colegio de Michoacán for her Ph.D. She is a historian working on Mexican political history, having taught in Mexican and U.S. Universities such as the UNAM, UCLA, and Stanford.

She has authored a book on Mexican Freemasonry and political culture and several articles

and book chapters, analyzing the role played by Freemasonry in the Mexican transition from monarchy to republic in the nineteenth century. In addition, her research focuses on political languages and practices, explaining how Freemasons contributed to spreading republican practices and ideals among Mexican society.

She has a close relationship with several Masonic organizations and lodges in Mexico and the U.S. She is also member of some of the most renowned research centers on Masonic History, such as the Centro de Estudios Históricos de la Masonería Española and Centro de Estudios Históricos de la Masonería Latinoamericana y Caribeña.

She has been married to her husband Eduardo for almost 20 years. He has been her major support for carrying on her career. Maru has also had the privilege of working with two of the most notable historians of Freemasonry in the world, namely Margaret Jacob and José Antonio Ferrer Benimeli.

director emeritus

Audrey Marie Stein

Director Emeritus

Grace Dee May Museum

Educator, Professor, Mentor, Researcher, Art Collector and Founder and Director Emeritus of the Grace Dee May Museum, Audrey Marie Stein was a woman of remarkable vision.

A native of Nebraska, Audrey was the daughter of William and Amelia Stein. Bright and inquisitive, Audrey was an excellent student and, at a time when few women were seeking degrees in higher education, Audrey set her sights on improving her knowledge and advancing her career opportunities. She first achieved a Bachelor of Science in Education at Emporia State University in Kansas majoring in Biological Science with a Minor in Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics. She next earned a Masters Degree in Education in 1953 from the Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado.

Beginning her career as a high school teacher in Grand Island, Nebraska, Audrey spent three years in midwest classrooms before moving to California where she worked for the Downey School District, first as a teacher and then as a district supervisor.

Seeking a wider range of professional opportunities, Audrey became a professor at Orange Coast College beginning in 1968 before serving as the Director of Vocational Education for Orange Coast College from 1978 through 1986.

As a champion of vocational training opportunities for students, Audrey authored several career-related publications for the Coast Community College District in Costa Mesa. She also served as Director of a groundbreaking pilot program for mobile classrooms to expand access to vocational education.

Over the course of her career, she achieved recognition for implementing innovations in educational opportunities including the development of a Power Sewing Vocational Program, the design of Vocational Foods Occupations Trailer Concept, and the development of the Vocational Training Program of Commercial Food Services.

As part of the Family of Freemasonry, Audrey was initiated into the Order of the Eastern Star, Garden Grove Chapter No. 483 in 1997 and five years later she joined the Order of the Amaranth, Charity Court No. 120.

Audrey enjoyed a wonderful marriage with her husband Joseph Leonard Feisthammel. As a couple, they shared a loved of learning, travel, art, and history which led them to become avid collectors of fine art and historical artifacts from all corners of the globe.

In 2004, Audrey Marie Stein became the Director of the Grace Dee May Museum. Her lifelong passion for collecting and preserving works of art combined with her affinity for education was the cornerstone of establishing a museum to display her private collections. Her vision was to create a venue where students and the public could not only view her incredible collections but also enjoy researching opportunities and hands-on learning experiences to enrich their understanding of the creative expressions of artists from around the world.

Today, the Grace Dee May Museum stands as a dream fulfilled. The Museum will remain a place where art and history can be studied and appreciated for generations to come.

Florida

Alabama

Welcome to the Grace Dee May Museum's

virtual 2nd Annual OktoberSteinFest

board of directors

director emeritus

ILLUMINATING THE LEGACY OF THE WEST