Name: McLeod Mortuary
Address: Escondido, CA

I was stationed in Hawaii with Donna she was a great friend. We visited each other a few times throughout the years when I was in San Diego. Couldn’t help but smile in her company. She will be missed. Rest in heaven my dear friend.

I loved working with Donna❣️I came in for a rush delivery one day and she was hurrying to get a warmer ready and seemed a tad upset; she went to pop the porta warmer and it exploded and she had gel everywhere, including her hair and face. We both erupted in laughter and she seemed to forget whatever was bothering her. She cared so much about the moms and babies and made hard situations better. I will surely miss her. ♥️bap

I was a volunteer in the Birth Center and on behalf of the volunteers that worked with her, we loved her!   She was kind, funny, ALWAYS  helpful and patient.   She will surely be missed by many, and many are better people having known her.  I am for sure.


Donna's family has selected a beautiful site in Oak Hill Memorial Park overlooking Escondido, Donna's home for over 35 years.  This photo shows the approximate location of Donna's resting place.  There is a small temporary marker with her name and the year 2020.  The family is ordering a permanent gravestone that will be installed next year.  

Oak Hill Memorial Park
2640 Glenridge Road Escondido, CA 
Section 17, Lot 336, Space 6

Donna was a long term best friend to me. 

Both nurses in the L& D unit, we met in 1985 and soon became very close.

I was there for many of Donna’s Ups and Downs. Life was not easy for her, but she managed it so well, better than me in some ways. Nursing was her calling, and her blessing. She lived to help women, it was her everything! 


I hope to have been as good of a friend to her, as she was to me. She was always there for me, always had an encouraging, kind word.

Year after year, we had good and bad times, and always reconciled our friendship. We helped each other whenever we could.

Just early this year, I got stranded while taking my granddaughters to meet reptiles, their favorite thing. My car had a problem, and I called AAA to diagnose the issue and do something while we were handling snakes and lizards. Next thing, they were loading the car onto a tow truck. I was barely able to get the car seats in time.

I called Donna and told her I needed her, and within minutes she was there, loading up the car seats, the girls and me...

I knew I could always count on her, and loved her like a sister. She was truly one of a kind, I adored how  real she was, never pretentious, always true to herself and her values.

I will miss her for the rest of my life! RIP my wonderful friend! ❤️

Donna Marie Mason, was born on June 7, 1957 in the borough of Queens in NY City, to James and Marilyn Mason. She was the second of three children and the only girl. Our younger brother Shawn came along in 1959. 
We grew up in a tight – knit extended family all living in the city or out on Long Island. We gathered together and celebrated holidays and other family events such as baptisms or christenings as we called it back then. Donna was baptized in St. PiusV Church in Jamaica NY. 
In the 1964 we had to leave our family and move to Rockledge Florida, my dad found a job at the Kennedy Space Center. The three of us kids bonded together as we had not yet made any new friends yet. I remember our parents had given us a small allowance to spend so the three of us went to the store to buy something. Shawn and I spend ours on comic books and candy. Donna spent her money on a cigar for our father, even though he did not smoke cigars. However, that was Donna, always thinking about others before herself. 
In 1973, we moved again to Newbury Park, CA. After graduation from NPHS Donna joined the US Navy. She trained and worked as a Hospital Corpsman. She worked in the Labor and Delivery Departments in hospitals at Camp Pendleton and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. A Superior wrote this about Donna – “She is an independent and industrious worker capable of caring for the high-risk or complicated obstetrical patient from time of admission to discharge.” While still in the Navy, Donna took nursing classes at Palomar College to become a Registered Nurse in civilian life. Leaving the service, she earned the rank of Second Class Petty Officer, a good Conduct Medal and a Honorable Discharge. 
She graduated from Nursing School in 1983, went to work at Palomar Hospital, and spent the next 37 years there in the Labor and Delivery Department. Her supervisors and co-workers described her as responsible, dependable, skilled, loyal, and professional. She gave compassionate care to her patient and was a strong patient advocate. She received many thank you notes for her care and her co-workers appreciated her willingness to jump in and help wherever needed.
Donna loved her nieces, nephews, lavished love, and gifts on all of them. At Christmas time, she would take the kids on a trip to Toys R Us and let the kids pick out their gifts. As the kids grew older, she would take them to concerts and trips to Hawaii. She supported them in whatever endeavors they were involved in. She contributed to our daughter, Brianne, in her fundraising efforts for the Mexico Mission Trip sponsored by our church, as an example.
When one of her co-workers received a terminal cancer diagnosis and lived out of state, Donna had one of her bedrooms in her house remodeled so her friend and her husband had a place to stay when they were in the San Diego area for chemo treatments.
Donna’s compassion and generosity also extended to animals. A lifelong animal lover, she would adopt dogs and cats from rescue shelters. Taking in the animals other people had rejected. She spent generously on Vet bills for animals that been abandoned and in need of medical care. 
She also had a heart for people who felt rejected, abandoned, and would help wherever she could.
But, Donna also had a serious medical condition - Bipolar Disorder. A disorder associated with episodes of mood swings ranging from depressive lows to manic highs. The exact cause is unknown, but a combination of genetics, environment and altered brain structure and chemistry play a role. This illness is common – 3 million cases are diagnosed per year in the US alone. Treatment can help but it cannot be cured and is usually a lifelong condition. Donna fought this illness for forty years, but she finally lost the battle on October 5th to an accidental overdose. 
Donna had the best medical care available. She did her best to be healthy and manage this illness. Her life was a cycle of therapy, medications, substance abuse, and hospital stays. She would stabilize and resume her life as a nurse, only to have her illness re-surface. Everything about Bipolar Disorder was difficult for her: the struggle to be functional, dealing with the shame associated with mental illness and the lack of understanding from mentally healthy persons, family and friends.
So often people who have a mental illness are known as their illness. People say she is bipolar. People who have cancer are not cancer, people with diabetes are not diabetes. Donna was not bipolar. She had a mental illness called Bipolar Disorder.
I ask you to remember her as a dedicated Registered Nurse. A loving and generous Aunt, sister and sister-in-law; and a child of God.
In Donna`s house there were prayer cards and pictures of Jesus taped to the mirrors. There was a statue of the Blessed Mother holding the infant Jesus on a shelf above the chair Donna sat in while watching T.V. I believe she rooted her life in Christ and his promises many years ago. I will close with a reading from one of her journals…
“Dear Jesus,
          I do thank you and your Father, God, for all I have. I want to live the life you gave us to the fullest. I ask in these times for your love and guidance and melt away my negative thoughts about life and its downfalls. I pray to you to show me the way you want me to study and the people to whom I could ask questions of. I pray for patience for the other and ways to vent my anger in a holy way.
           Lord, I feel deep down this is your Kingdom and that one day a better Kingdom will come.                                                      Love, Donna”

Go in peace, Donna Baby.   Now you are free!

Kevin Mason, brother of Donna Mason
November 21, 2020 Eulogy

I Was So Proud That she was my Big Sister

I was a young boy- 7 or 8 years old- living with my family in Florida. I was playing with my friend, Ricky, when this new kid in the neighborhood, a large girl a few years older than us, decided to entertain herself by terrorizing Ricky and me. She had us pinned down in Ricky’s backyard and was shoving us around when, somehow, word of this got to Donna. And before the poor girl ever knew what hit her, Florida’s second Hurricane Donna had descended upon her in a whirl of fists, elbows, knees, and the biggest set of buck teeth you ever saw. It was a fearsome but welcome sight from my vantage point...
And I was so proud that she was my big sister.

Donna loved animals. We grew up with dogs, cats, guinea pigs, hamsters, snakes, turtles, rabbits. In her early teens Donna began to beg my parents for a horse. Eventually, the parents agreed, on condition that Donna pay for the horse and its upkeep with her own money.  Through friends Donna learned of a 9 year old quarter horse that was for sale. Brandy had been pretty much put out to pasture for over a year. He was shy, malnourished, and not doing all that well. But he fit her budget and needed help, so he was the horse for Donna. Donna put every spare moment into caring for Brandy. She boarded him at the stables not far from our home and I remember she and her friend Cindy White converted their tack lockers into sleeping quarters and spent most weekend nights with their horses. Before long Donna had restored Brandy’s health and trust in humans. The bond between them was pure love...
And I was so proud that she was my big sister...

Donna learned that Brandy had been a barrel racer in his earlier life. So, not knowing any better, Donna decided to ride him in a local barrel racing event. I attended. Now, mind you, this is Donna’s first time racing a horse. Now, I would not describe Donna as an overly competitive person but once she decided to compete she did so with nothing short of reckless abandon.
Barrel racing involves a series of events that take place over a day. Donna did pretty well.  Brandy’s race training came back quickly and as I recall it Donna and Brandy won a couple of blue ribbons and a couple of red, when the final event, something called a hairpin race, was called. This timed event calls for horse and rider to race up to a line of 3 barrels, circle the middle one and race back as quickly possible... pretty simple. Well Donna and Brandy raced up to the middle barrel, but Brandy went wide when circling the middle barrel costing precious milliseconds. Bound and determined to make up time on the return Donna kicked and slapped Brandy and they came roaring back to the finish line like a runaway train. The thing is Donna kinda forgot that there wasn’t a whole lotta stopping room between the finish line and the end of the corral and so Brandy and Donna sailed over the railing at the end of the corral. This was quite a surprising turn of events for me and the other spectators on the other side of that rail. And while Donna and Brandy started out over the rail together, somewhere along the way they parted- Donna sailing off to a rough landing on the hard ground and Brandy running off to god knows where.
Donna didn’t get a ribbon in that event, but once we tracked down Brandy and I was sure Donna was alive and well, I had to admit...
I was so proud that she was my big sister.

Not long after this event, my dad’s job took us to California. When we moved Donna was half way through high school and had to leave her many friends and adjust to a new school in a new place. She did pretty well making new friends quickly, but she was for the most part disinterested in school and didn’t seem to have any direction. After graduating, Donna took a semester of Junior College, but dropped out and joined the Navy. After boot camp, Donna was assigned as a hospital corpsman to a medical clinic at Pearl Harbor. I remember visiting her with my mom and dad. Donna showed us around her clinic and her whole attitude had changed. It was clear that she was well liked by her coworkers, and that she was doing good work. She was excited about her work, she had stitched wounds, patched up drunken sailors and delivered babies.  She had found her calling...	and...
I was so proud that she was my big sister.

And it clearly was a calling that she pursued for the rest of her life.  A life devoted to caring for others in need. It is clear that those she cared for were moved by the experience. When organizing Donna’s things we found several notes and letters from former patients expressing their deep appreciation for the excellent care Donna provided during their labor and delivery. We also found awards she had received for exemplary patient care. And her co-workers have shared with us that for Donna patient care was always what the job was about.

When our father died my brother and I witnessed first hand the gentle, patient, loving care she provided to him during the last week of his life. Surprisingly, I was a mess –that's a joke- but Donna was a nurse. She bathed my dad, administered his medications, and kept him comfortable as his life came to its end. I was so amazed by the care she had provided to my dad and ...
I was so proud that she was my big sister.
 
Donna cared so well for so many. What saddens me most is that she was unable to figure out how to care for herself. But it wasn’t for lack of trying.

But, in the days ahead as the pain of losing her begins to fade, I know its not this sadness that I will think of when I think of Donna. I will think of her as the defender of the weak, the lover of animals, the hell bent for leather competitor, the nurse caring for those in need.
And I will remember that I am, and always was, so proud that she was my big sister.

Shawn Mason, brother of Donna Mason
November 21, 2020 Eulogy
 



Donna and I were kindred spirits in recognizing in each other that we were the black sheep in the family. As her first niece, she showed me from an early age what it was to get out from under mom and dad’s thumb. To hop in a car, roll down the windows and sing at the top of our lungs the rebel ballads of her favorite female pop stars, and get a taste of freedom. She made us kids feel special. She made a point as an aunt that she was the cool one. And I took notice quite early, that she was my special aunt for a reason. She was very successful in establishing a productive life for herself, while simultaneously successfully giving a big middle finger to social norms. She was not one for traditional values, but family and God, she kept close to the cuff. 

Donna admired women who were successful despite the adversity they faced. And every day she helped women through the most intense experience one could go through, childbirth and becoming a mother. Just as nursing defined her, Donna defined nursing. Patient care and advocacy above all. And despite not being able to communicate her needs best, time and time again over the course of 37 years she met the needs of women when they were most vulnerable. 

Auntie D 
Black Sheep we be
I love you
And you loved me

Kathleen Mason, niece of Donna
November 21, 2020 Eulogy

I knew Donna for many years as a colleague & friend.  A more loyal & dedicated nurse  or friend is not to be found anywhere.  She gave of herself & her possessions wholeheartedly & she was my hero.  Although she had challenges in life, they never kept her down.  I can still hear her delighted laughter, witty repartee & singing in my mind.  I am forever grateful she touched my life 


Will always remember Donna's warm heart and tender care for all.

I loved my cousin Donna! She was always fun to be around!
I remember visiting the Masons in Florida when I was little and they had dachshunds and a big dog named Chris.  Donna let me ride with her on her horse Brandy once.  
I will always remember her last trip to NY when we visited Aunt Hazel and we were singing "You're so Vain" and other oldies with her.
Rest in Peace my sweet cousin!
Lorraine Antoniello  (formerly Moody)

Dear  Kevin and Shawn and family, 
I cannot physically be there, but I sure wish I could. Although we were thousands of miles apart for many years, our friendship remained. I will miss her laugh and her high school reunion visits. 

Love, 
Laurie 

Dear Mason Family of California,

We are united with you in love and prayers. And we pray that peace be and abide with you.

Like many, we are shocked and saddened to hear of Donna's sudden passing.

From what we know of and have been told about Donna, she was a wonderful woman, a special soul.

From her pets to the people who knew, liked and loved her, she had a special bond with each.

Donna will be greatly missed.

Now she has joined your Mom and Dad, and all our loved ones, who wait for us in the heavenly reunion ahead.

Across our Mason and Conway Clans, from our families in Indiana, Oklahoma, Texas, New Jersey and beyond...we are once again united in a solidarity of love for and with all of you in our extended family.

A solidarity and bond of love that seems to grow stronger, somehow, when we lose one of our own, no matter how long it's been, or however little or more we know of each other's lives.

Donna's love light will surely shine in and through all of you, all of us, whenever she's remembered.
The world was better just having her in it.

We join you in gratitude for the gift of her life.
May dearest Donna, our cousin, rest in peace.

God bless you all.
Big hugs and our love to each.

Sincerely,

The Conway Family of Indiana, Oklahoma and Texas

"The good we do is never lost, it never ends, and it never dies. In other places, in other times, in other people, the good we do lives on forever." 
-Matthew Kelly

Celtic Song of Farewell
 
May choirs of angels lead you into paradise,
and may the martyrs come to welcome you
to bring you home into the holy city,
so you may dwell in new Jerusalem.
May holy angels be there at your welcoming,
with all the saints who go before you there,
that you may know the peace and joy of paradise;
that you may enter into everlasting rest.

OBITUARY

Donna Mason

June 7, 1957 – October 5, 2020

McLeod Mortuary

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