A longtime Danville physician who passed away last week is being remembered as a “pillar” and a “huge influence” of the local medical community.
Dr. John Mason died on Tuesday at age 90. He spent more than 40 years in private practice while also on staff as an obstetrician at Lakeview Hospital and later with Carle Clinic.
Dr. Donald Rokosch worked alongside Dr. Mason for two decades in the O.B. department.
“He was chairman of the department of OB/GYN, I’m sure more than once,” he says. “In that capacity, he helped the leadership, not only the medical staff in the OB/GYN department but also the hospital administration and its board of directors.”
Rokosch estimates that Dr. Mason delivered more than 10,000 babies here in Danville. He was also part of the hospital leadership, being part of a residency program for future doctors, and Rokosch says he stayed on during the transition away from having family physicians deliver babies in his later working years.
“The thing I respected him for was his high degree of professionalism and leadership,” he explains. “He was a very demanding individual, in an objective and appropriate way, for high standards.”
After his retirement in 1999, Dr. Mason stayed active in numerous community organizations, most notably at Danville Area Community College. Dr. Mason established the Mason-Cole Scholarship for medical students at the college, and he served two stints on the DACC Foundation Board.
Dave Harby, the president of the DACC Board of Trustees, says Dr. Mason provided the kind of support to the college that cannot be replaced by anyone else.
“He always had a smile on his safe,” Harby explains. “He was pleasant to be around. but he loved the community and will be sorely missed. He was irreplaceable from that standpoint. Danville is blessed with a whole lot of people who are very supportive, but he was certainly at the forefront, and he was one of them at the top of the list.”
Tonya Hill, the director of the DACC Foundation, says Dr. Mason purchased a mannequin for nursing students to use in their simulation lab just two years ago.
“Dr. Mason was the kindness soul I knew, I am just heartbroken,” she says. “ He was not only a Emeritus Board member, he was a big part of our DACC family and he will be solely missed.”
In addition to his charity work at the college, Dr. Mason was the driving force behind the establishment of the Fetch Dog Park in Danville in 2010.
A visitation will be held from 4-7 p.m. on Thursday at Sunset Funeral Home in Danville.
