Richard Mason
KLYC's new owner, Richard Mason, is a 5th generation Oregonian. He was born in Portland and grew up in Beaverton, where his family members were prominent members of the community.
In 1908, Dr. C.E. Mason married Bertha Clement at her parents home in Beaverton. The couple met at the University of Chicago where Dr. Mason first graduated with a degree in Biology. After teaching at a public school in Chicago for several years, C.E. Mason returned to the University of Chicago and obtained his medical degree. Then, he followed Bertha Clement to Oregon. He practiced medicine for several years in Canby before opening his practice in Beaverton. He served as Beaverton's only doctor for many years. Because of his earlier teaching experience, C.E. retained an interest in education. He served as President of the Beaverton School Board for 18 years.
His wife, Bertha Clement Mason, grew up in a newspaper family. Her grandfather, Charles Clement, was the editor of the Racine Advocate, an Abolitionist newspaper. He was also an active member of the Underground Railroad in Racine, Wisconsin. Clement played a key role in a historic event which occurred in 1852. The true story is described in Finding Freedom: the Untold Story of Joshua Glover, Runaway Slave. The nonfiction book was published in 2007 by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Author Ruby West Jackson describes the fate of a runaway slave named Joshua Glover who was captured in Racine by a slave catcher and town marshals. Glover was held in a Milwaukie jail under the Fugitive Slave Act for extradition to his plantation near St. Louis. The day before his extradition several hundred abolitionists gathered in Milwaukie's town square. Some men picked up a log and rammed the jail and freed Glover. They spirited him from house to house on the Underground Railroad and smuggled him on a ship to Canada where he enjoyed a long life as a free man. Some of the men were tried for his liberation. The trial garnered national attention and helped inspire the formation of the Republican Party, which began in Wisconsin.
Because of her newspaper background, Bertha had an great hobby - photography. She developed film and printed pictures in a dark room in their Beaverton home. She took pictures of C.E. while he was driving a horse-drawn buggy near Canby around 1910, This hobby continued in the family for several generations.
Bertha's sister, Alice Clement, was a pianist who studied in Europe before graduating from the Pacific Conservatory of Music. Alice Clement accepted a position at Linfield College in 1922 and taught piano at Linfield for several decades. After she retired, she left her life savings to the college. That's why the pipe organ at Linfield University is named after her, the Alice Clement Pipe Organ.
Mason's maternal ancestors arrived on the Oregon Trail in 1852. 21-year-old George Cathey and 16-year-old Thursa got married in Springfield, Missouri and set out that afternoon on the Oregon Trail. When they reached the Willamette Valley, they were broke. They visited Hillsboro, but chose to homestead what is now downtown Gresham. They raised five children on their 320 acre farm in Gresham. B.A. Cathey taught school in Roseburg and Canyonville, then earned a medical degree from Willamette University Medical School in the 1870's. Marie Cathey, Mason's grandmother, graduated from Corvallis High School in 1908, and Oregon Agricultural College (OAC) in 1912. She was Queen of the May at OAC (now OSU).
Mason's mother, Martha Randall Mason, worked at Portland radio station KWJJ and a cluster of other stations during World War II. She and Evelyn Sibley Lampman of Dallas, Oregon wrote the news for several men who read it on the air. In that era, women did not deliver the news on the radio. Lampman became the author of several dozen children's books based in Oregon.
Mason's father is the late Dr. Herbert Mason, who also grew up in Beaverton. In 1941, he was drafted the day he graduated from University of Oregon Medical School (now OHSU.) He served in the 59th Evacuation Hospital, later renamed MASH. He served under General George Patton in North Africa, then participated in the Invasion of Sicily, Invasion of Italy, D-Day, and the Battle of the Bulge. He also took part in the liberation of several concentration camps as the allies pushed the Nazis out of Europe. During his service, Dr. Mason took photos and wrote correspondence for a newspaper in Beaverton.
Mason's older brother is a news photographer and linguist. His photo of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in May of 1980 graced the cover of Newsweek. Other photos have been published in National Geographic, the Smithsonian, and newspapers and magazines around the world. He attended the University of Zagreb through a program offered in the 70's by Portland State University. He is fluent in Russian and Croatian.
Mason's young brother is a retired research scientist. He graduated from Reed College (BS), Washington State University (MS) and Kansas State University (PhD). He spent most of his career doing scientific research at a think-tank in Princeton New Jersey. His wife, the late Cincy Anderson Mason, was a Veterinarian. She earned her DVM at WSU, and a PhD from Cornell University in New York.
This biography is a response to allegations made by a local newspaper that Richard Mason is from California. Actually, he's a member of the Sons and Daughters of Oregon Pioneers, which requires that a member's ancestors arrived in the Oregon Territory prior to statehood, February 14, 1859. Mason's ancestors have lived in the Willamette Valley since 1852.
Over the years, Mason worked at a number of radio stations in California and Oregon. He has won several awards for news reporting from the California Associated Press Radio and TV Association (CAPTRA), and the Radio and TV News Directors Association (RTNDA.) He has started two radio stations and helped in five turn-around operations.
While he served in the US Army, he also lived in Oklahoma and Texas.
Mason is thankful to be living and working in the Willamette Valley where his family has lived for over 170 years.