Col (Ret) Jerry Mason passed on to be with his Lord on July 14, 2006 at his home in the Sudden Valley area of Bellingham, WA, with family members by his side. Jerry had been diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). . .  

Jerry was born on July 6, 1937 in Redlands, CA. Jerry was the son of a career Army Air Force pilot; so, he consequentlyattended many different schools while growing up. He graduated from Wiesbaden American High School, Germany, in 1955 and remained in close contact with many of his high school classmates throughout his life. Upon graduating from the Academy and not wanting to waste time, he married his life-long sweetheart, Bobbi, on graduation day.

Jerry was a pilot's pilot. Much of his 28 years in the Air Force was in operational flying positions, many in the Stan Eval function, with one tour with the 89th Airlift Wing (SAM) out of Andrews AFB, MD. During the Vietnam conflict, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross and numerous other medals and ribbons. At the conclusion of his Air Force career, he was actively recruited by American Airlines where he flew for another 10 years. Jerry accumulated over 20,000 hours of flying time his during two flying careers and was very proud of that fact.

Jerry spent many years teaching the Bible to people from 10-  and 11-year-old boys on through adults. His spiritual life was very important to him, and he cherished that time with the Lord. He was a Deacon in the Baptist Church for many years and raised his four children to love the Lord. He was a member of the Northlake Community Church in Bellingham.

Jerry was very fortunate in that his four children--Kitty, Jerry Jr. (Jay), Stephen, and Kim--and their families all live in the Bellingham area within at the most, 10 miles of each other. This was a comforting factor for Jerry since his family and 10 grandchildren could drop by on a daily basis.

Though Jerry is gone from us, many of his traits will continue to be with us, especially his sense of humor. Many of his jokes and humorous actions will live on for generations to come. His stature will continue to grow in the minds of those who knew him, because of his honesty, intellect, guidance and his purposeful life. He will certainly be missed by those with whom he came in contact.

(Bobbi Mason and Chuck Diver, '60)