Los Angeles County

Biographies

 

 

 

 

 

 

DEAN WILLIAM MacCORMACK, D. D.

 

 

            One of the most sincerely loved and outstanding churchmen of southern California and one who had given all of his mature years to the service of the Episcopal Church was the late Dean William MacCormack of Los Angeles, who had been connected with the Episcopal Churches of southern California from 1898 until the time of his death in 1926—a period of twenty-eight years—the greatest growth of the Episcopal Church in California.  He was born in the county Monaghan, Ireland, December 31, 1866, a son of John and Esther (Berry) MacCormack who left Ireland and emigrated to Canada in 1867, settling in Hamilton, Ontario.  There the son attended the public schools and the Collegiate Institute, and continued his theological studies in Wyckliffe College.  He received his B. A. degree in 1890 at Toronto University, and the following year his Doctor of Divinity degree from Norwich University at Norwich, Vermont.  He was ordained a deacon of the Episcopal Church at Guelph, Canada, and in 1892 became assistant of St. Ann’s Protestant Episcopal Church in Brooklyn, New York.

            Doctor MacCormack came to California in 1898 and for the following ten years labored assiduously to build up his parish as rector of All Saints Church in Pasadena.   In 1908 he transferred his activity to Los Angeles as rector and dean of St. Paul’s Pro Cathedral and served in that capacity until his death.  Dean MacCormack was an able churchman and a good organizer and endowed with an inspiring personality, and when he took charge of the Cathedral it had a membership of a few over three hundred persons.  He lived to see its membership increase to more than fifteen hundred souls and the church edifice develop from a small frame structure to one of the most modern church buildings in the country and suited to the changing conditions in Los Angeles.  Two years before he died he devoted nearly all of his energies to the erection and completion of the modern cathedral and the first service was held in it during the summer of 1925.

            Besides his heavy duties in connection with the Cathedral Dean MacCormack was deeply interested in the church missions and for many years was a member of the Board of Missions and at one time served as its secretary.  Six times he was elected a deputy to represent the Los Angeles Diocese at the triennial National Convention of the Episcopal Church; he was one of the directors of the Church Extension Society; and chairman of the committee on church pensions in the diocese.  He always supported the World Peace movement recognizing the desirability of the establishment of national brotherhood.  Dean MacCormack was a thirty-third degree Scottish Rite Mason.  He was orator of the Scottish Rite bodies of the Valley of Los Angeles and for two terms served as Grand Chaplain of the Masons of the State of California.

            Doctor MacCormack was united in marriage in 1893 to Lillian Elinor Meakins, of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and they had three children:  Elinor, a teacher in the southern California public schools; W. Rowland, a business man in Los Angeles; and Elizabeth, connected with the Mount Wilson observatory.  Dean MacCormack died January 4, 1926, and the funeral was conducted in the Scottish Rite Cathedral where the solemn service of the thirty-third degree of the Scottish Rite was held.  At the public funeral the Knights Templar posted a guard of honor while his body laid in state.  Many resolutions and eulogies were given and published and we quote this from the Masons:  “In the passing of the Very Reverend William MacCormack Masonry has lost a beloved brother and an inspiring leader.  For many years he has been recognized as an interpreter of Masonic teachings.  His eloquent words have always been welcomed by the craft and there has been the widest appreciation of his clear and searching exposition of Masonic doctrines.  His memory will be cherished, not only with the respect and admiration of his brethren, but even with their heartfelt love.  He occupied a unique place in the affections of the fraternity.”

            From an official of the Cathedral:  “Few realize how universally the Dean was beloved and admired, not only among members of his church and congregation, but throughout the whole diocese of Los Angeles and the State of California.  During the nearly eighteen years that he has been Dean he has grown deeper and deeper into the affections of the people.  The present beautiful Cathedral, pronounced by a committee of expert architects as one of the finest examples of modern church architecture anywhere in the country, stands as a monument to his vision and his ability to make things happen.  It was his determination that kept this uplifting influence in the down-town district notwithstanding the realization of what serious financial problems that entail.”

            The following tribute was paid by Bishop Stevens at a special memorial service in Saint Paul’s Cathedral:  “Reared and educated in the Canadian church, Dean MacCormack spent practically his entire ministry in the United States.  Though he served on the Atlantic Coast and the Pacific Coast, all those years he served but three posts of duty; a most inspiring example of devotion to duty in these changing times.  His life was international with the community, state and nation; so wedded was his life with the church and he was engaged in so many worthwhile tasks that it was impossible to think of changing his work.  While his outside interests were many he never permitted them to operate as a detriment to his parish.  Many of you have heard his impassioned pleas for the League of Nations and the World Court. It was because he believed in them as epitomized Christian brotherhood.  He hadn’t time for such catch phrases as “the one hundred per cent Americans’ or ‘America for Americans.’  His only guiding stars were beauty, goodness and truth.”

Quoted from the Consistory Bulletin of January, 1926:

 

 

“Flowers of love we are bringing,

Friend of the World,

Plucked from hearts that are bleeding,

Hearts that are aching with needing.

 

Friend of the humble and needy;

Friend of the bird and beast;

Friend of the king and pauper;

Friend of the rabbi and priest.

 

“King of men and good fellows,

Friend of the World,

You loved your life and you gave it,

Not stinting or trying to save it,

Because you were Friend to the World.

                         

You did not know you were tired;

You would not have chosen to rest;

You fought to the end for things noble,

Things deepest, sincerest, and best.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transcribed by Joyce Rugeroni.

Source: California of the South Vol. V, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 225-228, Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles,  Indianapolis.  1933.

© 2012  Joyce Rugeroni.

 

 

 

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