Raymond Edward Mason

Major General Raymond Edward Mason, Jr. (AUS-ret) died peacefully of natural causes on August 13, 2010 at his home in Osprey, Florida. He deeply believed in service to the communities and the country that he felt had given him so much.

General Mason was born in Columbus, Ohio, on March 20, 1920, the son of Raymond E. and Lula Potter Mason. He was a graduate of Columbus North High School and Ohio State University, class of 1941, where he pledged Delta Upsilon. At OSU, he was co-captain of the polo team and a member of the Varsity-O. And he distinguished himself in the Reserve Officer Training Corp as Cadet of the Year.

Upon graduation, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant, Field Artillery, and saw combat duty during World War II with the Fourth Armored Division of General George S. Patton’s Third Army. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge. His decorations include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, and Bronze Star with V for Valor, Presidential Unit Citation, and the French Fourragere.

In 1949, Gen. Mason purchased Columbus Truck and Equipment Company, launching an important career in the transportation industry--for which Time Magazine named him Truck Dealer of the Year in 1972, and Mack Trucks gave him two awards--while continuing to serve his country as a member of the United States Army in the active reserves for 35 years. He was also the former Chairman and owner of Bode-Finn, a company he built into a major dealer of material-handling equipment in the tri-state area of Southern Ohio, Northern Kentucky and West Virginia.

He served youth through his long involvement with the Boy Scouts of America, an

organization that honored him with the Silver Beaver Award, the Silver Antelope

Award and the 1986 Good Scout Award from the BSA Central Ohio Council. He served as President of the Simon Kenton Council and was honored with a World Scout Foundation’s Baden-Powell Award.

He fostered the growth of his community through his leadership of important committees of the Greater Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. He was a past Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Franklin University. He also was a past District Governor of Rotary and President of the Rotary Club of Columbus. Columbus Rotary Club recognized his contributions to business and the community by his designation as Rotary Man of the Year in 1987.

In 2006, Gen. Mason gave funds to convert the endowed professorship in military history to an endowed chair, named after him. The Ohio State University has honored him with the Ohio State University Medallion for his work in ROTC. Mason, also, gave funds to Ohio State's Fisher College of Business, where the Raymond E. Mason Hall, a business resource center, is named for him. He received the Max Fisher College of Business Pace Setters Executive Award in 1994.

For over two decades, the Raymond E. Mason Foundation, which he founded with his wife Margaret and named for his father, awarded grants for charitable, international, public and cultural purposes. During it’s existence the Foundation donated to educational and charitable institutions in Ohio, Florida and throughout the world including New College of Florida, United Way of Sarasota County, the Mote Marine Laboratory, the Florida West Coast Symphony, the Sarasota branch of the Salvation Army, the John and Mabel Ringling Museum of Art, the Ringling School of art and Design and many others.

Honoring his mother Lula, a native West Virginian, he maintained a deep and guiding interest in Berea College, Alice Lloyd College and the Cumberland College. These intuitions offer tuition free work/study programs for Appalachian students who would otherwise be unable to afford college.

Mason served on the boards of Franklin University, The Ohio State Board of Visitors, and the Freedom Foundation in Valley Forge, and the Ohio State University Foundation. Mason also served as a trustee of the Mote Marine Lab Foundation and of the foundation of New College, a Florida honors college. He was the owner of the JD Ranch near Myakka City. He was a past director of Florida West Coast Banks. In Ohio, he was a past Director and Consulting Director of the BankOhio National Bank.

Prior to retiring from the military in 1976, General Mason held several high-ranking Pentagon positions, including Assistant Deputy Chief for Operations and Special Assistant to Deputy Chief of Logistics Army and served on special assignment to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was promoted to Major General in 1969, and was the keynote speaker to the first Worldwide Logistic Conference of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was a graduate of the USA Command and General Staff College, and attended the U.S. Army War College.

Mason is Listed in Who’s Who in Finance and Industry, Who’s Who in the Midwest, in the Millennium Edition of Who’s Who in America, and in Who’s Who in the World. He was a former race car driver and instrument-rated pilot.

He once offered that he'd likely never retire: "That wouldn't be much fun."

He said he was motivated by getting the job done, and getting it done properly and better than the competition.

"I think most of us, anyway, want to be better tomorrow than we were today. We just want to make the world a little bit better than when we found it. That's probably my main ambition."

General Mason is survived by his beloved wife of 69 years, Margaret E. Mason, and their three sons, Raymond E. Mason, III, and Michael D. Mason and Bruce R. Mason.

A graveside funeral service will be held at 11:00 am, Saturday August 21, 2010 at Union Cemetery with The Reverend Dr. Philip M. Hazelton officiating. A reception will follow starting at 1:30 pm at the Columbus Foundation, 1234 E. Broad St. Arrangements by Schoedinger Midtown Chapel. Visit www.schoedinger.com to leave a condolence or share a memory of Raymond.