John Mason

1939 - 2025

News story
By Eric Taunton
Blade staff writer

John Mason, a former police chief for the city of Toledo, known for "putting his family before anything and everything," died at Hospice of Northwest Ohio on Tuesday. He was 86.

Donna Owens, who served as the mayor of Toledo during Mr. Mason's tenure remembers him as "one of the top police chiefs in the city."

"He was a great police chief," Ms. Owens said. "He was strong, he was kind, and he really knew his job. He really knew how to handle people. … I had a lot of trust and faith in him."

Ms. Owens described Mr. Mason was a warm man who was devoted to his job and cared about people and the jobs they were doing, she said.

She said the former police chief also helped her personally, an example being when Mr. Mason helped protect her when she received death threats while she was mayor.

"He was just a decent person," Ms. Owens said. "He cared about everybody."

When his retirement was announced in 1987, his tenure was the subject of praise from other city officials. Philip Hawkey, Toledo's city manager at the time, called Mr. Mason "an excellent chief of police."

"Toledo was fortunate to have had a man of his caliber," Mr. Hawkey said at the time. "He was a good administrator and his leadership style gave confidence to those who work with him."

"If it's one thing I'm proud of, it's the fact that I appointed John Mason," said J. Michael Porter, the city manager who appointed Mr. Mason to the position of police chief told The Blade at the time of Mr. Mason's retirement. "It's absolutely the finest appointment I ever made. He's creative and is always looking for better ways to do the job."

His daughter, Kristi Mason, described her father as someone who was always there for her family.

"He was always a solid support for our family and he was incredibly supportive of anything anybody wanted to do," Ms. Mason said. "He was always there to cheer on his kids and grandkids at sports [events] and other events."

In that same vein, when he became police chief for TPD on June 1, 1980, he told a Blade reporter the order of his priorities in life were "family, health, and then the job."

Mr. Mason was born July 3, 1939 to Leonard and Emily Mason in Toledo, where he graduated from high school.

After he graduated from high school, he worked in the road and building maintenance department for the city of Toledo and later joined the Toledo Police Department as a patrolman in 1963, Ms. Mason said.

He achieved the rank of detective soon after and then made sergeant in 1970, she said.

While working as a sergeant, he attended the University of Toledo, graduating with an associate's degree in public service technology in 1974 and then a bachelor's degree in criminal justice in 1976, Ms. Mason said.

Mr. Mason was appointed police chief in 1980 and retired from the department in 1987.

Even though Ms. Mason was in grade school when her father retired, she still doesn't remember him talking much about his work at the time.

"I think he compartmentalized his work," Ms. Morgan said. "He left work at work. When he was at home, that was family time. [That's] not to say he didn't talk about it but it wasn't prevalent in conversation. He would tell stories now and then."

He described being chief as a "killer" job at the time.

"You have to sit in this chair to appreciate the differing pressures," the former police chief told The Blade when he retired. "You don't take this job to be popular. From the first day, you encounter differing levels of resistance."

Mr. Mason retired from the department on partial disability due to a chronic back problem that his doctors said was aggravated by job-related stress.

Mr. Mason enjoyed golf, stained-glass blowing, and Ohio State University football, his daughter said.

The former chief is survived by his wife, Patricia Mason; daughters Kristi and Shari Mason; son, Jeff Mason; brothers, Leonard Mason, Jr., and Kenneth Mason; three grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Coyle Funeral Home, 1770 S. Reynolds Rd., with a funeral Mass to be held at St. Patrick of Heatherdowns Catholic Church at 11 a.m. Monday. The family will greet guests an hour before the Mass.