Mason Lykes

LYKES, Mason Mallory, 84, died November 13, 2006, at her home in Tampa. Mason was born May 28, 1922, in Lawrenceville, Va., the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Frank Nicholson Mallory of Lawrenceville. She attended Brunswick County Schools, the Collegiate School, and the College of William and Mary. During World War II she worked at Camp Pickett, Va. preparing the papers for soldiers departing for war. It was there that she first met her husband, Charles Parkhill Lykes of Houston, Texas. They were married December 18, 1946 and made their home in Florida, where Charlie went to work for his uncles in the family business, Lykes Bros. Inc. Mason and Charlie lived first on the Lykes Ranch at Brighton and then moved to Tampa. Mason was a private pilot. She was a member of The Ninety-Nines International Organization of Women Pilots as well as state and local flying clubs. She competed in national and international women's air races such as the Powder Puff Derby and the Angel Derby. She was a member of the Junior League of Tampa, the National Society of the Colonial Dames in the State of Florida, Tampa Town Committee, Tampa Yacht and Country Club and Palma Ceia Country Club. Mason was a trustee of the Lowry Park Zoological Society and together with her husband played a role in developing Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo into one the top-rated Zoos in the United States today. The Mason M. and Charles P. Lykes Florida Wildlife Center at the Zoo is named in recognition of their service to the Zoo and their love and appreciation of natural Florida. Mason was preceded in death by her husband. Survivors include her sister, Julia Smith of Lynchburg, Va.; her children and grandchildren. They are Mason Mallory Lykes and David Vincent Belcher of Tampa, Genevieve Parkhill Lykes Dimmitt and Lawrence Hundley Dimmitt III, their children Mallory, Elizabeth, Lawrence and Genevieve Dimmitt, all of Clearwater, Fla., Susan Wall Lykes Mueller and John Harlan Mueller of Tampa, Charlotte Mayo Lykes Jorgensen and Richard O'Neil Jorgensen, their son, Charles Hunter Jorgensen, all of Boulder, Colo., Charles Parkhill Lykes Jr. and Kathryn Rousseau Lykes of Lake Placid, Fla. their children, Mason Nell and Charles Lykes III of Lakeland, Fla. and Careena Cornette of Tampa, Mayo Lykes and Susan Traylor Lykes of Jackson, Wyo. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, November 16, 2006, at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 501 N. Marion St., Tampa. There will be a reception immediately following the service in the church parish hall. Burial will be at the family cemetery in Brooksville, Fla. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions in Mason's memory to the Lykes Florida Wildlife Fund at the Lowry Park Zoo Foundation, 1101 West Sligh Ave., Tampa, FL 33604, Lifepath Hospice or St. Andrew's Episcopal Church.