Jerry, Kathleen Mason to celebrate 50 years
ROYAL CITY - Jerry and Kathleen Mason of Royal City will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday, Oct. 13, continuing a romance that was kindled at Jerry's worksite when Kathleen was just 13.
There will be an open house on the 13th from 4-7 p.m. It will be at the Royal Slope home of the Masons' son Jason and daughter-in-law Jenny Mason at 14340 Rd 12 SW.
All friends of the Masons are invited. A light meal, cake and family-friendly refreshments will be served.
The Masons have been Royal Slope farmers since 1975. They continue to work at Mason Farms with their son Jason. Jerry works in the fields, while Kathy is the bookkeeper.
The Masons were married on Saturday, October 13, 1962 at the Methodist Church in Sunnyside. They attended the World's Fair in Seattle as part of their honeymoon.
Jerry Mason and Kathy Moore were high school sweethearts. They met when he was 16 years old and she was 13.
Kathy's father, Sunnyside farmer Ernest Moore, sometimes oversaw irrigation projects. Jerry was one of the high school boys he hired to dig ditches and lay pipe.
Kathy and her girlfriends occasionally walked to the nearby job site and had whispered discussions about which of the boys they would pick to date. That is where Kathy first noticed her older brother Mike's friend Jerry. They soon started dating.
That romantic interest brought Jerry into the world of the large family. Kathy had six brothers and seven sisters.
"The Moores usually had extra kids visiting, too," said Phebe Wall, Jerry and Kathy's daughter. "Mom remembers loving chaos growing up. That is what Dad walked into when he started dating Mom."
After high school, Jerry served two years in the U.S. Army. He was stationed in Panama for 18 months during the time of the Bay of Pigs incident that put all U.S. military on alert. Fortunately Jerry was not called to that Cuban mess.
The Masons married after Kathy graduated from high school, and Jerry started a dairy in Sunnyside in partnership with brother-in-law Mike Moore. That partnership moved to the Royal Slope to expand the dairy in 1975.
Kathy's parents, Ernest and Catherine Moore, sold their farm and moved to Mason and Moore Dairy, along with the youngest of their 14 children, David. Another of Kathy's brothers, Edward Moore, joined the dairy partnership soon after the move.
"First, it was (my) dad, Jerry Mason and my uncle Mike Moore dairy farming in Sunnyside while Grandpa Ernest Moore farmed his own land," said Phebe, who has recorded the family history to memory.
"Then, both farms in Sunnyside were sold," Phebe added. "Mike and Jerry bought the Royal City dairy, and Grandpa and Grandma Moore retired to Royal City with us. A year or two later, Ed Moore joined the dairy."
The dairy partnership was dissolved in the mid-1990s, and the Masons turned to hay farming on the same land. After serving in the Navy, son Jason moved back to the farm with his wife and daughter and began farming with Jerry.
"When Jason and Dad (Jerry) began farming together and my other brother lived in a house on the farm with his wife and kids, it made for four houses and four generations on one farm," Phebe said.
After moving to Royal City, Jerry rediscovered his love of horses when his children started 4-H. While Kathy was getting her college degree, Jerry was roping and packing into the mountains.
Today, Jerry still rides when farming allows, and his hunting buddies bring him game to smoke and process into jerky or sausages.
In the 1990s, Kathy worked part time for Royal High School as a tutor for college-bound students. She also attended Central Washington University, earning a bachelor of arts in English literature in 1994.
From about 1980 to about 2010, Kathy worked as a substitute librarian for the Royal City Library. Today she relaxes by playing pinochle with The Card Sharks club.
"The feeling of being surrounded by family has been there most of my parents' married life," Phebe said. "Right now is probably the quietest time in their marriage. There are only two generations in two houses on the farm now."
The Masons have two sons, two daughters, and seven grandchildren.
Jason and Jenny's daughter Ashley lives in Seattle. Vern Mason and wife Mary live in Great Falls, Mont. with their son Jacob. Their daughter Nickole is married to Travis Owens and also lives in Great Falls.
Leah and Jon Bruhn of Snohomish have one son, Walker, and one daughter, Kassidy. Phebe and Andre Wall of Lynnwood have two sons, Carris and Ruben.