Necrology
William Beecher Mason '33
Jun. 13, 1910-Mar. 3, 2003
William Beecher Mason ’33, a retired accountant, was born on June 13, 1910, in Yonkers, NY. A son of Albert W. Mason, Class of 1900, a high school science teacher, and the former Maude Wilson, Bill Mason grew up and was schooled in Yonkers, and came to Hamilton in 1929. During his three semesters on the Hill he became a member of Delta Upsilon and participated in musical activities, including the Choir. After returning to Yonkers, he took part in plant pathology research at Boyce Thompson Institute in that city. He later attended Alfred University, where he majored in physics and chemistry and received a B.S. degree in 1936.
In the years prior to World War II, Bill Mason, having taken business courses at New York University, obtained employment with Price, Waterhouse & Co., the accounting firm, in New York City. During the war he did research on military-related projects at Colgate-Palmolive-Peet’s laboratories in Jersey City, NJ. In 1946, after the war’s end, he moved permanently to Hawaii, where he returned to public accounting in association with Young, Lamberton & Pearson (later Haskins & Sells) in Honolulu. He served as assistant treasurer of Pacific Refiners, Ltd., from 1949 until 1952, when he went to work as a civilian for the U.S. Coast Guard, also in Honolulu. He retired as assistant controller in 1972.
Bill Mason, a resident of Kaneohe, enjoyed traveling several months each year, but was always happy to return to Hawaii, where he took great pleasure in cultivating orchids as well as golfing and playing bridge. He was also a devoted musician and former president of both the local Hammond Organ Society and the Aloha Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society.
William B. Mason, a loyal and consistently supportive alumnus, died in Hawaii on March 3, 2003. His wife, the former Elizabeth Gaines, whom he had married in 1946, predeceased him in 1984. He is presumably survived by two sons, William B., Jr., and George G. Mason.
