Linda Mason

Our parents always said that Linda marched to the beat of a different drummer – and the rhythm of that beat served her well her entire life. Linda was born on September 11, 1950, in Hotel Dieu Hospital in El Paso, Texas. Having survived pneumonia as a child, Linda’s childhood was a typical 1950’s childhood with a working father and a stay-at-home mother. After the Beatles became such a huge sensation, Linda and I and our friends Angie Enriquez (Heredia) and Rosemary Arriola (Lopez) formed a band that we called the Neatles. In 1964, Linda did get an electric guitar during our trip to New York, but I don’t remember that any of the rest of the Neatles ever got instruments, and I’m sure we never performed. Her crowning achievement at El Paso High School was that she was salutatorian of her graduating class in 1968.

After high school, Linda attended UTEP for a while, but found that did not fit in with the beat to which she was marching. So she left El Paso and went west. She settled in California where she worked for a while. Then she found the Transcendental Meditation Movement (TM) under the leadership of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Linda spent the next 25+ years of her life with the Movement, traveling from India to Italy, from Great Britain to Puerto Rico, from one end to the continental United States to the other hoping to be instrumental in bringing world peace. She ended up in Boone, North Carolina, with the Mother Divine program of TM.

After our mother died in 1997, Linda left TM and moved back to California to pursue her lifelong talent – painting. She set up a business painting dog portraits. After our father died in 2006, Linda lost the rhythm of her drummer for a while, but with the love, help, and devotion of her friends, she found it again and was doing something she really loved – helping people find the right Medicare insurance for their needs. Linda treated her clients like treasured friends and in turn they adored her. During this time, she also was able to spend more time painting.

Linda was very proud of her Jewish heritage and spoke often of how proud she was of the accomplishments of our parents. Linda was devoted to her friends at Congregation B’nai Tzedek where she attended services, Torah study, and other activities regularly, sharing love, light, and caring with her hugs and beautiful smile.

Linda is preceded in death by our parents, Hilde and Lee Mason, and by her beloved cat Schwarzy. She is survived by me, her sister, Carol Parker and my husband Jimmie Parker; our cousins Rabbi Yitchok and Leslie Adler of Connecticut; David and Eve Adler of Atlanta, and Stuart and Karen Adler also of Atlanta and their families. She is also survived by her dear friends John Cosgriff, Kimmarie Simonsen, and Geri Wools, and many other loving friends, including the congregation at B’nai Tzedek Synagogue in Fountain Valley, California.

A graveside service will be held at Temple Mount Sinai Cemetery in El Paso, Texas, at 10:00 am on Monday, July 26. Instead of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to B’nai Tzedek Congregation in Fountain Valley, California, Temple Mount Sinai in El Paso, Texas, or to a charity of your choice.

You were always able to find your rhythm, Linda. I will love you and miss you forever.