Jeffrey L. Sowder of Toronto, Kan., is currently serving his third year as a member of the Boards of Directors for Shriners International and Shriners Hospitals for Children®. He was elected Imperial Marshal, part of the 13-member body that helps govern the Shriners fraternity at the 2011 Imperial Session – held in Denver July 3-7.
Sowder was born and raised on a ranch in Kansas. He operates four separate agricultural related corporations, including a 450-head cow/calf operation; retail feed business serving ranchers throughout the Flint Hills of Kansas; wholesale cattle mineral business with distribution in four states; and a multi-faceted agricultural wholesale/retail business in Wichita, Kan.
Sowder was raised a Master Mason in 1975 in Woodson Lodge #121 in Toronto, Kan. He served as Master of his lodge in 1981, 1983, 1991 and 1992. After many Grand Lodge appointments, including District Deputy Grand Master, Area Deputy Grand Master, Chairman of the Grand Lodge Membership Committee and serving as an appointive Grand Officer on three separate occasions, he was elected Grand Junior Warden in 1994 and served as Grand Master of Kansas in 1997.
In 1999, he served as Captain of the Guard for Midian Shriners in Wichita, and in 2000 he was elected Oriental Guide. He served as Potentate of Midian Shriners in 2004. He is the personal representative for the Wichita Scottish Rite Valley in Wichita, and is the President of the Kansas Masonic Foundation. He has served on many Imperial-level committees, including the Pilot Implementation Team, and currently serves on the Executive Membership Committee, TRAC Committee, and Ritual Committee and has been a presenter at the Imperial Membership, Oriental Guide and Assistant Rabban seminars.
Sowder and his wife, Cheryl, have been married for 36 years and have two daughters. Stephanie and her husband, Jamie Nelson, live in Severy, Kan., with their two children, Corinne and Sutton. Lindsay is married to John Hill, and they live in Ft. Scott, Kan.