In Memory of Robert Mason(1950 - 2014)

On January 16, 1950, Robert and June Mason were delighted to add a boy to their family of girls. They named him Robert Loren Mason after Daddy Bob, their beloved father. At the age of four, tragedy struck. It left Bob and his two older sisters, Connie and Sandy, without a mother. They then had to be raised by their father and a series of housekeepers, some of which were not so “Lucky.” Because of the mischievous little boy and his fascination with matches, the result was a burning bed and her resignation.

During the summer, Bob and his sisters spent time in the country with their relatives and they never failed to leave with many fond memories.

Because Bob’s father found it very difficult to raise the children alone, he remarried and Helen became Bob’s stepmother and a new child, David, was added to the family.

During junior high school, Bob was sent to Missouri Military Academy. At military school, there was a dance in which his stepmother moved his heart. If a cadet had a mother there she would pin a red rose on the cadet. Helen was there but, she chose to pin a white rose on Bob in honor of his birth Mom. In later years, after raising some rambunctious boys himself, Bob came to appreciate the discipline military school provided him with.

Bob was a perennial music man, starting with his interest in Drum & Bugle Corp. He went on to become a drum major and one of the three soloists in the corp. While in the army, he learned to play a Korean instrument called the kayagum. He even played on Korean Television! In seminary, he sang and danced in “Cabin in the Sky” as the main character, Little Joe, and played in the Mason/Dixon Line. In Georgia, he joined a barbershop chorus and after moving to Iowa with his family, it didn’t take him long to join the Des Moines and Urbandale Community Bands. He made sure to include music into every part of his life, even his sermons. Many times he would introduce new songs through his services, some of which are included in today’s program.

Later Bob decided to join the army after doing two years at the University of Iowa. He found himself in Korea instead of Vietnam and while there he had a very startling dream, unlike any other. In the dream, he saw the face of a Korean man in a prison camp. The dream was very vivid and it made a huge impression on him even though he didn’t know what it meant. Upon returning to the US, Bob answered an ad from the Unified Family and started to study the Biblical understandings of the Unification Church. He found the teachings very compelling and later learned of the story of Rev. Moon’s incarceration in prison. It was then that he realized the dream he had in Korea was of this man and he put his heart and soul into studying his teachings.

Some of the many things he did in the church after that included, VOC pioneering. He taught Victory over Communism lectures at a time when communism was still strong in East Germany and the former Soviet Union. He pioneered CARP at the University of Maryland while finishing his degree. Last he went to the Unification Theological Seminary where he graduated as a three-year divinity his last year, his thesis was so well written that they thought it was plagiarized, they proclaimed it to be the most well-written thesis they’ve seen!It was during this time that Bob was studying profusely and to help him get through he coined a term that just he and Donna shared. It was called “thunking.” He would fall asleep while studying and Donna would ask “are you studying” and the answer would be, “No, I’m thunking.”

Thunking (verb) – being so overloaded with information that one must fall asleep in order to digest it.

And that brings us to his wife. Who is Donna? As the song goes, “And when you see your true love across a crowded room, …never let her go.” That crowded room was the grand ballroom of the World Mission Center, Mother’s Day 1979. Later the happy pair were blessed in marriage at Madison Square Garden. This marriage produced six new lives, Matthew born 1984, Nina 1986, Lia 1989, Jonathan, 1992, Lori 1994 and last but not least Kyle 2001.

Other things Bob went on to do in the church were, Georgia State Leader and Savannah City Leader. Then he was called out of the church to work with the American Constitution Comm. to promote the patriotic value and create the American Freedom Coalition. He also worked as an aid to a Georgia State Senator.

Having recruited a computer to begin work he quickly began teaching himself computer skills and started working in that field, first with the Lotus Corp. in Atlanta and then with Well Mark Blue Cross as their systems administrator in Iowa. But what he cared about more was the church which he lovingly pastored.

In 2010 he was diagnosed with early onset dementia and later Lewy body dementia. The disease took a great toll on Bob and his family, but he seldom was angry and was faithful until the end.

And finally, I will end with a quote found among his things, “I have often though and even spoken publically that if I ever have the good fortune to go to Heaven I hope there is a big Drum corp in the sky to join. Harps are fine, but give me a brass line anytime!”

And so in seeing how Bob lived his life, I’m sure he’s there blowing that trumpet right now.