Wilbur Mason

Wilbur "Bill" L. Mason, 87, of Bettendorf, passed away Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014, at his home. Funeral services will be at noon Tuesday at Schroder Mortuary, Silvis. Visitation will be one hour prior to service time. Burial will be at Greenview Memorial Gardens, East Moline. Memorials may be made to Women in Military Service or America Memorial Foundation Inc. Bill was born Feb. 5, 1926, in Morrison, son of Wilbur B. and Henrietta J. Wulf Mason. He married Mary L. LaFeber on June 22, 1947, in Portland, Ore. He worked for several radio stations including KROS in Clinton, Iowa, WOC in Davenport, WQUA in Moline, KXL in Portland, Ore., and KCIM in Carroll, Iowa. He also worked at International Harvester in public relations at Farmall in Rock Island until he transferred in 1972 to Oakland, Calif., as the West Coast public relations manager, retiring in 1981. He continued to work for 10 years for Old Cars Weekly magazine and many others as a photojournalist until his return to Bettendorf in 1991. Survivors include his wife, Mary; sons, Scott (Kerryl) Mason, Rock Hill, S.C., and Randy (Cheri) Mason, Dubuque, Iowa; grandchildren, JoAnne (Craig) Swan, Kerry (Jerry) New, Jacob Mason, Dr. Nicole (DJ) Jedlicka and Ryan (Andrea) Mason; great-grandchildren, Emily Swan, Heidi Swan, Mason Jedlicka and Amber New. Bill was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Beverly Golden. The family would like to give a special thank you to the staff at Genesis Hospice and Home Helpers.