Bernard D. Mason Jr.

Bernard Mason, New Orleans businessman and one of the developers of the New Orleans Ritz-Carlton Hotel, died on Saturday, June 30, 2012 in New Orleans at the age of 78. A born conversationalist and storyteller of great wit, he left his native Mississippi in 1951 to study architecture at Tulane, and although he was to eventually graduate from Mississippi State University with a degree in agriculture, his love for beauty and his urge to create it never abated. His introduction to New Orleans was also his introduction to his wife of 57 years, Earline Viavant Mason.

He began his adult life a planter in the Mississippi delta of his youth, but quickly came back to New Orleans and the Gulf coast where he developed, designed and operated hotels such as the Chateau LeMoyne in the French Quarter as well as residential developments such as the Perdido Key Country Club near Pensacola, Florida. Of all his pleasures, none stood above that of a table well-laid with food and drink and surrounded by his family and friends. His deep basso voice had a lyrical and musical quality which commanded attention when he spoke, and which conveyed pleasure to all who heard his tales of New Orleans rouges and their adventures. He was an authority of every imaginable subject.

Over the course of his life he was to be a planter, real estate developer, hotelier and a businessman. His knowledge of architecture was simultaneously his vocation and his pleasure. Mr. Mason and his partners purchased the Maison Blanche Department Store building in 1997 and began converting the upper floors into the Ritz- Carlton Hotel. In 1998, Dillards shuttered the Canal Street Maison Blanche location, leaving the first three floors of the building vacant-a potentially disastrous circumstance for a luxury hotel whose construction was underway. Working quickly, Mr. Mason and his architects redesigned those first three floors into the stunning gallery of shops, lobby and meeting space of today. He was mechanically inclined. He designed everything-knives, boats, hotels, restaurants, bars and houses-twice in the case of his home in New Orleans which burned and twice for his Gulf coast home which was destroyed by Camille in 1969, then again by Katrina 36 years later.

As a raconteur he was second to none. His prodigious memory and the artistry with which he concocted his tales insured that a seat at his table was a deeply coveted commodity during his weekly lunches at the Rib Room. On the rare occasions which a story wasn’t forthcoming, he instigated one. A pall has settled upon New Orleans-its liveliness and its mirth diminished, for when he left, many feel he took a part of the city with him.

He was preceded in death by his parents, B. D. And Bertha Mason. In addition to his wife Earline, he is survived by his daughter Lisa Mason Watson and former husband Rob Watson of Pass Christian, Mississippi, his son and daughter-in-law Robert and Sara Mason of Gulf Breeze, Florida; three grandsons, Ryan Mason, Robert and Mason Watson; granddaughter Christine Hall (Brandon) and one great granddaughter, Ellen Hall. He is also survived by a sister and brother-in-law, Carol Ann and JB Herrin of Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend funeral services from the family residence, 1417 Valence St., New Orleans on Tuesday, July 3, 2012 at 12:00 Noon, with visitation beginning at 10:00 AM. Interment will follow in Metairie Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Preservation Resource Center, 923 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, LA. 70130.