Eloise Ogden/MDN Kenneth Gillespie of Minot holds a certificate he received when honored with the Thirty-third and Last Degree of the Scottish Rite of the Masons at a recent ceremony in Minneapolis.

Kenneth Gillespie of Minot has received the honor of Thirty-third and Last Degree of the Scottish Rite of the Masons.

He received the prestigious Thirty-third Degree from The Supreme Council at a ceremony at the Scottish Rite Temple in Minneapolis on Nov. 20.

The Thirty-third Degree certificate and medal were presented by Dale Sandstrom, Bismarck, a Thirty-third Degree and deputy of the Supreme Council of North Dakota. Gillespie was one of six people in North Dakota to receive the Thirty-third Degree.

Of the 160,000 Masons, only 4,000 are Thirty-third Degree, according to information.

Gillespie has been a Mason since 1974. He joined in Kansas City, Kan. When he moved to Minot in 1980 he became a Mason in his father’s lodge.His father, the late Kenneth O. Gillespie, fire chief at Minot Air Force Base, was a Thirty-second Degree Scotttish Rite Mason.

Gillespie, who will celebrate his 75th birthday on Dec. 6, is a well-known figure in Minot as Dizzy the Clown, a role he has played for 50 years and been involved in many events and activities. Most recently, he was president of the International Shrine Clowns (2020). The Shriners are part of the Masonic group. In 1988-89 he was president of the World Clown Association. He is a founder of the World Clown Association. The group’s convention was held for the first time in Minot with Gillespie in charge of the event.