John (Jack) Joseph Mason

Jack grew up in Kearny, NJ, graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson College in 1954, and served in the United States Marine Corps before beginning his career in the toy industry with Lionel Trains in 1956. In 1960, he married Mary Jane Hastings of Roselle, NJ, his devoted partner of 47 years.

After the birth of their three children and four decades in toy marketing—nearly half of which were spent in the suburbs of Chicago and Minneapolis—the Mason family returned to New Jersey in 1975. The children were raised in Monmouth Beach, NJ, where they grew into adults who brought great joy and pride to their parents.

Jack retired in 1996 and moved with Mary Jane to Tryon, NC, to begin a new chapter of life together, joined by his beloved fox-hunting horse, Finnegan. In Tryon, Jack and Mary Jane built a happy and comfortable life, for which he was openly grateful to the God of his Catholic faith.

In 2007, he took excellent care of Mary Jane when she was in hospice herself. He missed her tremendously in the years that followed, but found happier times in Aiken, SC, Wilmington, NC and Pawley's Island, SC with companion Patti Kalin, who passed away in 2025.

Jack lived life with verve and described himself as an “optimistic pessimist.” He played the piano, composed songs, wrote his memoirs, rode horses, dabbled in painting, loved to cook, struggled with golf, and was rarely without an opinion.

Though he often said marrying Mary Jane was his greatest achievement, he was deeply proud of his children—Ellen, Jack, and Eric—and his five grandchildren: Sophia, Rogan, Natalie, Owen and Eamon.

Jack was the last surviving member of his immediate family. His parents, John and Catherine Mason of Kearny, NJ, died in 1963 and 1973. His brother, Francis Mason of Bloomfield, NJ, died in 1984, and his sister, Catherine Korec of Sterling, NJ, passed away in 1997.

Funeral Service: March 4th, 10am The Church of the Precious Blood, 72 Riverdale Ave Monmouth Beach 07750

Lunch reception to follow

One of his favorite Irish ballads expresses how he wished to be remembered:

“The heart that has truly loved never forgets,
But as truly loves on to the close;
As the sunflower turns to her God when he sets,
The same look which she’d turned when he rose.”