William Allyn Mason
           12/25/38 - 9/11/03
   
> High quality version for printing
> Larger version for viewing
 

Our dear friend, Bill Mason, died unexpectedly on Thursday, September 11th in Cleveland while en route to the San Francisco Bay Area. As sweet and generous a soul as ever one could be, Bill had many, many friends who loved him dearly and will miss him even more.

We will gather recollections, eulogies, pictures, bits of biographical material, and whatever else you might like to share as part of a web-based collective memorial to a friend who left us wiser, happier, and, frankly, far better people for simply having known him.
       


What we know

On Thursday morning, September 11th, Bill was on his way to Oakland, CA to visit Daniel del Solar and his wife Susan Miriam Castelan. Susan has been seriously ill the last few years and is now under hospice care. A week earlier Susan asked Daniel when she might see Bill, who not surprisingly, was a person she was most fond of.

Bill was on his way to the Cleveland airport to catch an 11 am flight when he collapsed from a heart attack while waiting for a airport train. Resuscitation was attempted on the train platform without success and Bill was rushed to a nearby hospital where further attempts were made to revive him. From what we know Bill never regained consciousness after his initial collapse.

Close friends in Cleveland are helping to get affairs in order. Bill's surviving siblings have been notified. His sister arrived in Cleveland Saturday morning from Pasadena, CA.

This website

We have created this website as a memorial to Bill. Please submit your recollections, eulogies, pictures, bits of biographical material, and whatever else you might like to share as part of this web-based collective memorial.

Please send your rememberances, including digital images (with captions), by email to richard@richardgingras.com. If you have non-digital material that you'd like to send for Richard to digitize and add to the site please send by mail to Richard at 546 Covington Road, Los Altos, CA 94024. You can call Richard at 650 793 0093.

Multiple contributions are encouraged. We expect the collection of material will draw out new memories and inspire others to share. You all know right well that Bill would have had a few choice words and an upturned brow at the notion of this website, but deep down inside we know he'd love it as we loved him.

Funeral & memorial plans - 2 upcoming!

Tuesday, November 25

Boston area friends will be gathering at Bill's favorite Boston hangout: the Casablanca. Casa B' owner Sari Abuljubien, Badi Foster, the gang from Harvard and many, many others will be there.

3:00 to 6:00 pm
Casablanca Restaurant
40 brattle Street
Cambridge, MATel
Phone: (617) 876-0999

Saturday, November 8

DC area friends of Dr. Bill will be holding a commemoration on Saturday November 8. Please make sure the word is passed to the many friends of Dr. Bill who are out there. And please feel free to stop by and join in the drinks food and inevitable laughter that accompanies any Dr. Mason event. Call Stephen Klein at 202-726-4116 if you have questions.

4:00 to whenever
1700 Taylor Street, N.W.

Washington D.C. 20011
Phone: (202) 726-4116

Sunday, October 5

A memorial event for Bill Mason will be held on Sunday, October 5, 2003, from 2:00 to 6:00 pm, at the Larchmere Tavern. The memorial program will be just an hour, from 3:00 to 4:00, leaving plenty of time for everyone to mingle, reminisce, share stories, and make tributes. Hope to see you there. (from Mark Ribbins)

2:00 to 6:00 pm
Larchmere Tavern
13051 Larchmere Blvd
Cleveland, OH 44120
Phone: (216) 721-1111

Sunday September 21

4:00 to 6:00 pm
Visitation at Gilligan Funeral Home
2926 Woodburn Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45206

Phone: 513-281-8311

Monday September 22

11:00 am to 12:00 noon
12:00 Mass at St. Mark's Church
Visitation at St Mark's Catholic Church
3500 Montgomery Road
Cincinnati, OH 45207

Phone: 513-961-0472

Following Mass, burial will be in the cemetery which is directly across from the church.

A reception will be held immediately after the burial ceremony. The reception is tentatively scheduled for Xavier University. Details will be posted later and announced at the church.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be sent to the local NAACP at 2500 Kemper Lane Cincinnati, OH 45206

The Gilligan Funeral Home has released this death notice to area publications and has created a memorial web page here.

A memorial event is being planned in Cleveland, possibly a week or two after the funeral.

We will provide more information on these and other events as it becomes available.

Lodging Recommendations
(Thanks to Mary Ann Butkovich)

Quality Inn in Norwood, Ohio. 513-351-6000
Right up Montgomery Rd.from the church. It is reasonable and nice. Phone: . Norwood is a
city within Cincinnati.

Vernon Manor Hotel. 513-283-3300
On Oak Street off Reading Road. It is also nice and it's close to I-71. Not sure about the rates.