During more than three decades as a social worker, Donald E. Mason Sr. was known as a great communicator.
With a gift for gab delivered with empathy and encouragement, he had a knack for gaining the trust of troubled youths and people struggling with addiction. His negotiation skills also helped him mediate workplace conflicts.
“He always had a heart for helping people in underserved communities,” said his son Donald Mason Jr., principal at Redan Middle School. “It didn’t matter how challenging it was. When he made a commitment, he stuck to it. He inspired me to go into education.”
Mason of Atlanta died Oct. 28 at the age of 71. The cause of death was a blood clot in his heart, his son said. His funeral was Nov. 4 at St. Joseph’s CME Church in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Born on Sept. 17, 1944, Mason was the second of four sons whose parents instilled Christian values and the importance of getting a college education.
His father was a bellhop at the Carolina Inn, a hotel frequented by dignitaries. His mother worked at the Intimate Bookshop, owned by the brother of journalist Charles Kuralt. She encouraged her boys to read daily.
After high school, Mason attended Howard University and graduated with a sociology degree from North Carolina Central University. He later received a master’s degree in social work from the University of North Carolina.
He started his social work career at the Lincoln Community Health Center in Durham and later worked at Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill.
In 1979, he moved to Atlanta, where he became the behavioral medicine and substance abuse director at Peachford Hospital and Physicians and Surgeons Hospital. His job was to develop programs to help people overcome their addictions and transition back into productive lives.
But he always did much more, friends said. In addition to helping former patients find housing, he would check on them to encourage their progress or offer support if they needed it.
“Don’s greatest skill was his communication skills,” said Atlanta health care consultant Julius Spears, former CEO at Physicians and Surgeons and chief operating officer at Grady Memorial Hospital. “He was always looking out for patients after they left the hospital. He was able to gain their trust and trained lots of young social workers to make a difference with patients.”
While he was mentoring boys at an Atlanta middle school in the 1980s, some of the students stole his car, which was found trashed a few hours later. Although disappointed by their actions, he was not deterred from continuing the mentoring program.
“My mom was upset, but Dad was calm,” his son said. “He didn’t like it, but he understood where they were coming from. He knew it was from a lack of guidance. A grandmother was raising the boys. They had no male figure in the home.”
In the 1990s, Mason took a job in employee relations at Grady Hospital. As the human resources liaison, he helped resolve manager-employee conflicts, ease racial tension and develop an employee assistance program.
He also was part of the Grady HR team that updated policies to provide employees with more training and opportunities for career advancement.
“We made policy changes that benefited everyone and created a sense of fairness in the workplace,” Spears said. “Don was trusted by the workforce. He was very skilled in helping people with different views to come to a common ground and work together.”
Fascinated with aviation, Mason collected model planes and enjoyed attending air shows and visiting the airport with his children to watch planes take off and land.
He also was an avid photographer, music lover and automobile enthusiast who loved fishing, shopping for the latest fashions and his UNC Tar Heels.
In addition to his son, Mason is survived by his wife of 50 years, Kaye Mason; daughter Dirim Mason of Atlanta, his brothers David Mason Jr. of Chapel Hill and Daryl Mason of Atlanta; and five grandchildren.
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