Rice, an Ebensburg native, is now tasked in his new role with interpreting Masonic law and helping Freemasons at lodges in Cambria, Westmoreland, Somerset and Bedford counties become more prosperous, said Ted Castel, the worshipful master of Summit Lodge No. 312.

Castel said Rice’s installation last Sunday was “very important for our area” because Larry Derr, the right worshipful grand master of Pennsylvania, and his officers came to the lodge from Philadelphia for the ceremony.

Since there are only 46 Masonic districts, 380 lodges and 75,000 Freemasons in Pennsylvania, “it’s a big deal” for a lodge to have a district deputy, Derr explained.

“It’s a big celebration for the lodge to be able to say, ‘I have a district deputy from my lodge’ because there’s many lodges that have never had a district deputy,” Derr said.

Masonic District 41 Deputy Grand Master Philip Rice (right) receives a proclamation from Larry Derr, the right worshipful grand master of Pennsylvania, during his installation ceremony Feb. 2 at Summit Lodge No. 312 near Ebensburg. Mirror photo by Matt Churella

Being the grand master of a whole district requires a lot of time and great attention to detail, but Rice is the perfect person for the honor because he’s “very well versed in Masonic history and Masonic law,” Castel said.

“He’s a very educated man when it comes to anything Masonic. He puts a lot of time in and he’s very passionate about Masonry,” Castel said. “He’s just an all-around great person.”

Among those in attendance for Rice’s installation were his wife, Michele, and their daughter, Lauren, 14, who said it’s “a little scary” to think of her father traveling and being away from home more often. “But I’m really proud of him,” she said.

Michele Rice said her husband is “determined” to give back to his community.

Rice has a hand in helping with many veteran organizations, including the American Legion Post No. 363 in Ebensburg where he serves as a commander and the VFW Post 4963 where he’s a life member.

Ebensburg native Philip Rice addressed members of Summit Lodge No. 312 with his family by his side: wife, Michele; and daughter, Lauren, 14. Rice was installed as the district deputy grand master for Masonic District 41 on Feb. 2. Mirror photo by Matt Churella

He is the current president of Mountain Chapter No. 564 of the National Sojourners, an organization of Masonic veterans who promote patriotism; a board member of Appalachian Youth Service, a social services organization providing care and treatment for at-risk youth in Cambria County; and an officer in Voiture 1370 of the Forty and Eight veterans organization, an independent honor society of American veterans focused on Americanism, youth and nursing.

In addition, Rice is a former two-time president of the American Legion County Fair in Ebensburg, where he remains active as the fair’s concession’s manager.

Until he resigned earlier this year, Rice was also the director of veterans’ affairs in Cambria County, a job he started in 2021.

Rice admits there’s “just too much on my plate” to take on any hobbies. But one of the biggest honors of his life is his 21 years of service in the Army, he said.

Rice completed two tours in Korea, one in Germany, one in Bosnia and two tours in Iraq.

“More than anything else, it’s an honor to serve your country, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Rice said. “I’m proud to have done it.”

His first duty station upon joining the Army was in Korea during the First Gulf War.

“Usually a Korean tour is 12 months, but I ended up staying about a year and a half,” Rice said, noting the Army didn’t have additional people to send to Korea, which is why he stayed there longer.

Upon returning to the United States and completing additional training, Rice was sent back to Korea because he was able to give commands of an artillery battery and a target acquisition battery. During the second tour, Rice was stationed in Korea between 1993 and 1996.

In South Carolina, Rice later entered the third infantry division and was sent to Bosnia in 2000-01 for a peacemaking mission.

Rice served in Kuwait and Iraq from 2002-03; Germany, 2004-07; and a second time in Iraq, 2007-08.

His first tour of Iraq was during the 2003 invasion, known as Operation Iraqi Freedom. The brigade Rice was with was responsible for taking Baghdad, Iraq’s capital city, during the invasion.

Rice said there wasn’t a lot of time to think about his family and friends back home during the invasion, although he was able to exchange letters and emails once things “calmed down a little bit.”

“There were no U.S. forces in Iraq before us. We attacked across the border and attacked up to Baghdad, so there really wasn’t a lot of time to think about it, to be honest with you, because you were constantly in the moment,” Rice said.

In Germany, Rice’s principal duty was to get units ready to go to Iraq.

“Since I had been to Iraq, I was called an observer controller, and I would observe units while they went through training and helped them to learn from their mistakes so that they’d be ready to go to Iraq,” Rice said. “After I was done there, I went to Iraq, so that worked out well.”

During his second tour of Iraq, Rice helped an Iraqi Army brigade develop into a professional army that could sustain stability after the United States left, he said, noting he then had a lot more communication with friends and family members back home through webcam video calls.

“I was able to talk on the phone and be in the conversation of what was going on at home a lot more,” he said.

In 2009, Rice retired from the Army, married his wife — whom he met while stationed in Georgia years prior — packed their stuff up and moved to Ebensburg, where they’ve lived in Rice’s childhood home ever since.

“(My wife) had only seen snow once in her life before and now she curses at me every winter,” Rice jokingly said.

But Michele Rice, who grew up in Sylvania, Georgia, said she’s enjoying life in Cambria County.

When she and Rice were dating in the summer of 2004, they did “all of the local touristy things, like going over to the garden at Saint Francis and to a Pirates game” and visiting the Seldom Seen Tourist Mine near St. Boniface, Northern Cambria.

Michele Rice said her husband is a “standup guy” who means what he says and genuinely cares about his community.

“He is not going to do anything halfway,” she said, adding Rice’s installation as a district deputy grand master will require him to be more involved, travel more and be “a little more away from home.”

“It is something that he has wanted to do for a while now, so we are certainly going to support him as he begins to do it,” she said.

Rice said he is “honored and proud” to represent Summit Lodge No. 312 as the district deputy grand master.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.

The Rice file

Name: Philip Rice

Age: 58

Family: Michele Rice, wife; Lauren, daughter, 14; Winston and Willow, pet dogs, both of the Corgi breed

Education: Central Cambria School District, attended elementary and middle school; Valley Forge Military Academy, Wayne, Class of 1984; Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, graduated with a finance degree, Class of 1988.

Freemasonry distinction: District deputy grand master, District 41; past master of Summit Lodge No. 312, Ebensburg.

Volunteer work: Commander, Legion Post #363, Ebensburg; president, Mountain Chapter #564 of the National Sojourners; board member, Appalachian Youth Service; officer, Voiture 1370, Forty & Eight; life member, V.F.W. Post 4963.