George O. Braatz is a Past Grand Master (1987-88) and Grand Secretary Emeritus of the Grand Lodge of Ohio. He is a Knight of the York Cross of Honour, a 33rdDegree Mason in the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, and a Past Sovereign Grand Master of the Grand Council, Allied Masonic Degrees of the United States.  He is an Active Member of the International Supreme Council for the Order of DeMolay.

            He is a journalism graduate of Bowling Green State University and was employed in the editorial department of the Toledo Blade newspaper for 10 years. He was the Blade’s Financial Editor in 1977, when he joined the public relations department of Champion Spark Plug Company, later becoming Champion’s Manager of Corporate Communications. In 1994 he joined Hart Associates, a marketing firm in Toledo, as Vice President of Public Relations.

In professional activities, he is a Past President of the Northwestern Ohio Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists; a member of the Public Relations Society of America, and served as national president of the Automotive Public Relations Council. He was Chairman of the Public Relations Advisory Committee of the Northwestern Ohio Chapter of the American Red Cross, and a member of the Chapter’s Board of Directors. For two years he served as Chairman of the United Way Campaign at Champion Spark Plug, and has been a member of the Campaign Communications Committee of the Toledo United Way Campaign on several occasions. 

He is a former member of the board of directors and former treasurer of the Northwestern Ohio Epilepsy Center; he was Chairman of the Grand Rapids Village Bicentennial Committee in 1975-76; was Chairman for three years of the Grand Rapids Area Cub Scout Advisory Committee; and was a youth baseball coach for four years.

In January 2000 Mr. Braatz joined the staff of the Grand Lodge of Ohio as Director of Program Development. In October 2000 he was elected Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Ohio and retired from that position in December 2009.

In September 2011, he as named Executive Secretary of the Masonic Service Association of North American, with headquarters in Burtonsville, MD, where he administered national programs in Masonic education, hospital visitation, and disaster relief.  He retired from MSANA at the end on 2016.Mr. Braatz became active in DeMolay when his sons joined the organization in the early 1980s. He was a member of the Advisory Council of Fallen Timbers DeMolay Chapter in Toledo. He has been an Active Member of the DeMolay Supreme Council since April, 1986.