John T. "Jack" Mason Jr.

John T. Mason, Jr."Jack"

Age 87, of Ellicott City, MD, Howard County, passed away of natural causes, Mon., November 13, 2006, at Squirrel Hill Farm, his home of 56 years, with his family by his side.

A salesman, a farmer, an avid sailor & one of the original founders of Glenelg Country School. Born in Wilm., DE, in 1919, Mr. Mason attended Friends School, and later graduated from Episcopal High School, in Alexandria, VA. He went on to receive a BA in English from the Univ.of Virginia. As a teenager, Mr. Mason was on a trip with members of the Wilm., DE YMCA, to observe the 1936 Olympic Games, when the group found itself in a crowd listening to a speech by Adolph Hitler. They failed to give the Nazi hand salute and shout "Heil Hitler" when instructed, and were promptly arrested. After some diplomatic intervention, they were released after only a few hours of detention in a German police station. A traffic accident left him with only 1 kidney, making him ineligible for military service. He spent the war years building U.S. Navy destroyers & LST's, in the shipyards of Hoboken, NJ & Wilmington. In 1943, he married Frances Wellford of Richmond, VA, and they soon began to raise a family. The couple spent several years in Pittsburgh in the late 1940's where Mr. Mason became a Manufacturer's Rep., for Dravo Corp. He became the company's Mid-Atlantic Rep., which eventually landed him in Ellicott City, in 1950. He continued to work for Dravo, and later as a self-employed Rep. until his retirement in the early 1980s. Mr. and Mrs. Mason maintained a flock of up to 80 sheep on their farm, raised crops and always had a cadre of miscellaneous barnyard animals milling around. At one point in his later years, Mr. Mason put together a unique collection of exotic chickens which became his pride and joy. In 1954, Mr. & Mrs. Mason joined together with Kingdon & Mary Gould and several other Howard County parents with young children, to found Glenelg Country School, which opened in the fall of that year with 35 students in grades 1-7. Today the school numbers over 750 students in grades pre-K-12 and is considered by many to be one of the premier independent schools in the Baltimore area. As a young man, Mr. Mason was an avid sailor, who raced Star boats with a competitive group on the Elk River. This love of sailing stayed with him most of his life and until recently he kept sailboats at various spots on the Chesapeake Bay. Everyone in his family has their favorite "Captain Bligh" story to tell about some sailing experience with Jack.

Mr. Mason was predeceased by a daughter, Frances Mason Winfield. He is survived by his wife, Frances; children, John Tenney Mason, III, Katharine Mason Chapman, Edmund Wellford Mason, Mary McDonald Mason Blake; grandchildren, Julius Carsten Peter Winfield, Jr., Heather Mason Kiefer, Susanna Block Mason, Max Carroll Chapman, III, Parke Mason Chapman, Edmund John Tenney Mason, Katharine Pohlman Mason, & Frank Louis Mason; also 5 great-grandchildren.

A memorial gathering was held Nov. 18, at Squirrel Hill Farm. Burial will take place at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, VA, at a date to be determined later.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Howard County Animal Welfare Society, 8556 Davis Road, Columbia, MD 21045.