Dr. Samuel Albert Mason

Dr. Mason was born to parents Ripley Cape and Myrtle Mason (née Helmuth) in Savannah, Georgia, on June 15, 1932. He is survived by Julia Elizabeth Mason (née Green), his wife of fifty-two years. Sam and Julia met and married in 1971 in Atlanta, Georgia, living there briefly before settling permanently in Orlando, Florida, among his wife’s extended family. He is survived by daughters Kathryn Elizabeth Hale, Lucy Jane Sell, and Julia Lee Wickes, as well as daughter Erika Butler from his first wife (Rose). He is also survived by his brother Andrew Stephen Mason of Savannah, Georgia. Dr. Mason will be missed by his ten grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Dr. Mason was a doctor of chiropractic for fifty years who practiced in the City of Orlando for more than thirty years, first in the heart of College Park, and later near downtown. He earned his Doctor of Chiropractic from the National University of Health Sciences (formerly the National College of Chiropractic) in Lombard, Illinois, in 1959, at which time he also passed a state medical board exam. Dr. Mason was a gifted chiropractor who was cherished by many longtime patients, particularly those who found relief from chronic pain through his care. Long after he was retired, former patients sought him out and, on occasion, appeared at his door unannounced seeking treatment. Over the course of his career, he gave countless treatments to patients who came to him seeking help with limited or no ability to pay, and offered his chiropractic services pro bono at a local charity on a regular basis.

Throughout his career, Dr. Mason participated in professional development activities and programs of study in the areas of acupuncture, homeopathic medicine, nutrition, and herbology. In 2003, he obtained a doctor of naturopathic medicine (N.M.D. degree) from the Florida College of Integrative Medicine. He was an early advocate for bridging the gap between western and eastern medicine, and used his practice and professional network to teach and share information about the benefits of vitamins, herbs, homeopathy, and acupuncture long before these gained mainstream acceptance.

Dr. Mason served in the United States Air Force from 1950 to 1954. While in the military, he attended officer school, was made a staff sergeant, and received training in intelligence, advanced combat, and foreign language. He was actively deployed in the Korean War, and was stationed overseas in France and Germany for two years before being honorably discharged at age twenty-two. Dr. Mason was a disabled veteran and will be honored by active members of the Air Force at his graveside service.

In his early adult life, Dr. Mason worked professionally as a builder and foreman, thanks to seven years of informal apprenticeship he received as a child from an uncle who was a builder. He put these skills to use throughout his life as a home hobbyist. Always forward-thinking and looking out for his family, he was almost always occupied with a home improvement project he believed would make his home more serviceable to his wife and children in the long-term. Dr. Mason was full of intellectual curiosity and constantly reading. He routinely sent books as gifts to his children and grandchildren, encouraging them to develop their interests. He could recite long poems and scripture passages from memory in his booming bass voice, and loved singing old southern spirituals and Bob Dylan ballads while playing an old guitar that he cherished as a gift from his brother. He told his family that “no one is poor who knows how to sing lots of songs".

Dr. Mason had a deep faith in God. He believed in the real efficacy of prayer and tried to serve the Lord with all his strength throughout his life. He modeled loyalty, stability, and resilience through difficulty. He never thought of himself first, but was always thinking of the well-being of his family. He especially took delight in boasting about each of his daughters’ accomplishments to anyone who would listen.

A graveside service will be held at Greenwood Cemetery in Eustis, Florida, on October 28, 2023, with a family gathering to follow.