Charles Masson Jr.
Charles Edson Masson Jr. passed away in Reno, Nevada on September 9, 2009, at the age of 81. Charles lost his tenacious battle with lung cancer and died quietly in his sleep.
Born in Dunsmuir November 27, 1927, he was the youngest of four children born to Charles Edson Masson Sr. and Marcelle Sayler Masson.
Charles’ friends (who knew him as “Chuck”) remember his cheerful personality, his sense of humor, and his delight in telling a good joke or story. In high school he enjoyed all sports and was an outstanding basketball player.
A 1945 graduate of Dunsmuir’s schools, Charles set aside his postgraduate plans in order to fulfill the military service requirement. He jointed the US Coast Guard and later the Army.
In 1962 Charles married Doris (Nelson) Linsley. Sadly, Doris passed away in 1975, after 13 years of a happy marriage.
Charles’ second wife, Betty (Bull) Smith whom he married in 1978, enjoyed many good years with Charles, but succumbed to cancer in 1994.
As his own health deteriorated, Charles left Oakland to live with his older brother Lewis, in Reno.
Charles had no offspring; he left instead a wealth of examples of his innovative talents — scowling African masks, papier-mâché figurines, cartoons, sketches, funny hats and costumes, a solemn four-foot tall tiki statue he carved from an old log he had brought down from Dunsmuir, and framed photographs of the prize-winning yachts he had decorated.
Surviving family members are his brother Lewis, and nephews Mark, Ross and James Masson; nephews Grant and Charles Masson (sons of oldest brother Peter Masson, deceased); sister Valerie Masson Gomez, and nephews Peter and Angel Gomez, nieces Marcelle Amelia, and Valerie Lienau; and cousins James and Charles Masson, and Eleanor Masson Buehler.
Burial is at Evergreen Memorial Cemetery in Yreka, in the Masson-McCloud family plot.
