Alexandra Mason

Graveside inurnment services for Alexandra Mason, 80, Lawrence, will be at 4 p.m. Tuesday, July 12, at Pioneer Cemetery on the University of Kansas campus. Ms. Mason died Friday, June 24, 2011, at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
She was born March 17, 1931, in Greenfield, Mass., the daughter of Herbert E. and Anna E. Thorndike Mason.
Ms. Mason graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1952 with an AB in Greek. She earned her Masters of Library Sciences in 1955 from the Carnegie Library School, and also did post-graduate work at Durham University in Durham, England and the famed Bodleian Library at Oxford University in Oxford, England.
Highlights of her career include: 1975-1999: Head of Special Collections (Rare Books) for Spencer Research Library; Recipient of the very first Chancellor’s Distinguished Librarianship Award in 1990; Inductee into the University of Kansas Women’s Hall of Fame in 1980; Reference librarian for the World Book Encyclopedia in Chicago for one year before coming to Lawrence in 1957. Mason was a member of the KU graduate faculty and spent time as a Courtesy Professor of English and also served as a mentor in the University Scholars program.
Ms. Mason was the co-author or author of 4 books, 17 articles, and over a dozen scholarly papers. After 42 wonderful years with the University of Kansas, Mason retired in 1999 and The Rubenstein/Mason Fund for the Library was named partially in her honor. A quote about Mason from the KU Women’s Hall of Fame website says: “She has ever been an active and highly effective participant in many good and moral causes, for example, women’s rights and intellectual freedom… she simply lived her beliefs and convinced others of their rectitude by her example.”
She is survived by her lifetime friend, Ann Hyde and a brother, E. Eugene Mason, Greenfield, Mass. She was preceded in death by three sisters, Pauline, Edith, and Helen.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Rubenstein/Mason Fund for the Spencer Research Library, the Lawrence Humane Society, or Mt. Holyoke College, sent in care of Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home & Crematory, 601 Indiana, Lawrence, KS 66044.

Messages & Condolences

From John Bevan, Best Deal Computers...

Ann,

I am very sorry to hear about Sandy’s passing. I know that she was a very good friend to you and she was very special to me for the short time that I knew her. I wish you the best and look forward to hearing from you if there is anything that I can do for you.

With heartfelt condolences,

John Bevan
Owner
Best Deal Computers
2625 Moundview Drive
Lawrence, Kansas 66049

From Larry L. Hopkins...

Ann: I was extremely sorry to read about Sandy. Her hiring me and my working with you and her in Spencer was the high point of my life since I retired from the Army. I’ll miss her even more, now, than I have since she retired. My condolences for your loss; best of luck to you in the future.–Larry

From Eugenea (Genea) Wilson...

Ann,
My deepest sympathy. My first “real job” was in Watson Library. Have great memories of working with wonderful people such as yourself and Sandy. This set me on a life time path of working in an educational environment. Oh yes, being a part of the team that moved the rare book collection from Watson to the new Spencer facility.

Eugenea (Genea) Wilson-Evans
Administrative Assistant
to the Social Sciences Division Chair
and Interim Assistant to Humanities Chair
Metropolitan Community College-Longview
500 SW Longview Road
Lee’s Summit, MO 64081

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