Elsie May Mason

1931 - 2023

Elsie May Mason

March 27, 1931 - December 14, 2023

Winchester, Virginia - Elsie May Mason, wife, mother, teacher, and creator, died in December 2023 at home in Winchester, Virginia where she lived with one of her daughters and her family.

She was born March 27, 1931, in Pitt County, North Carolina (near Farmville) to Edward Wooten May and Sarah Pollard May of Pitt County. She was born in and grew up in the house her great grandfather John May had built in 1823. She was married on June 9, 1954, to Julian Dewey Mason Jr. of Williamston, North Carolina, whom she had first met as a young girl at a church camp.

In 1953, Elsie graduated with an AB in English and Biology from Flora Macdonald College in Red Springs, North Carolina. She was awarded a Ford Foundation Fellowship to attend Peabody College at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee where she reconnected with her future husband Julian and, in 1954, received a MA in Teaching.

Elsie worked in many different jobs over the years. Teaching was a part of all of them. She was during her lifetime: a social worker in Bristol Virginia, an elementary school teacher in Hanau, Germany, and a private kindergarten teacher in Chapel Hill and Charlotte, North Carolina. She also worked at the Atkins Library of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte for many years until her retirement and served as a member of the North Carolina Textbook Commission.

Elsie loved making things, including bread, biscuits, pottery, baskets, and especially quilts. If you knew her well you probably have one of her creations. She loved to give them to others. Elsie was an avid reader and a lifelong Presbyterian church member.

Elsie is survived by her brother Robert Wooten May and his wife Judy Ratley May of Farmville, North Carolina; sister-in-law Heather Barton May, wife of her former brother Edward Alfred May of Wee Waa NSW Australia; son, Christopher May Mason and his wife, Valerie Schwarz Mason of New York City; two daughters, Rebecca Mason Persinger and her husband David William Persinger of Hickory, North Carolina; Emily Mason Bloom and her husband Dr. Tim Bloom of Winchester, Virginia; four grandchildren, John Michael Bloom, Annie Bloom, Julie Persinger Kisby and Cameron Maximilian Mason, and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.

Gifts in honor of Elsie may be given either to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) by following the link at https://pma.pcusa.org/donate/make-a-gift/gift-info/SO999999/ or to the Farmville Presbyterian Church by texting "Calvin" to 73256 and following the instructions.