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Sonye Mason Obituary
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Memories and Condolences
for Sonye Mason
5 Entries
Kay~Kay
March 30, 2025
Luv u Unc... sure wish I've gotten to know you as an adult. I know you were as amazing as your sister, my mother. Rest In Paradise, both of you, and God Bless!!
Debra Vance
October 11, 2024
Here we are 20 years after Mason B. Mason's passing, and I was just speaking about him with a friend. He is still missed! He added so much warmth and light to downtown Santa Barbara. We'll never forget you, Mason. Thank you for spreading music and joy.
Patricia
December 23, 2020
Mason B. Mason’s lovely deep voice and his wide smile are so much a part of my teenage and college memories of downtown Santa Barbara.
When I was a young teen I loved spending time downtown with my friends. Mason was a fixture on State Street, often bussing in front of the Fiesta 5 or Metro 4 theaters. He’d have conversations with passersby through his songs. He always had a big smile for us as we passed, and we often stopped to listen and drop a dollar or two in his guitar case. Mason was always kind and he never made us feel uncomfortable. He made us feel safer. Nobody was going to mess with us when this big kind man was right there.
Once, when I was a university student, he complimented the confidence of my walk. He said it in just the right way, and it made me feel absolutely wonderful. I’d grown up with what was probably gluten ataxia, and I saw myself as super clumsy, so this simple compliment actually made a huge difference in my self-perception. I still think of him when I see my own reflection whilst walking.
I moved away from Santa Barbara for a few years after college and I looked for him when I moved back. Sadly, he’d passed on in 2004 after a very short illness. Godspeed, Mason. You had a real and lasting impact on me.
Geoff Mc
October 8, 2020
Mason helped me many times when I was on the streets in SB. Thank you, Mason.
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Lorene Johnson
March 2, 2018
There was alot more to Mason than you read in his obituary. He had started a program for introducing music to under privileged children as well as being a ray of sunshine to passers-by on State Street.
He did work in homelessness advocacy and the right to be a street musician and not be hassled by law enforcement.
I was a frequent visitor to Santa Barbara as a homeless advocate and enjoyed his passion for life and his music.
Still hearing you man.
Beanie
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