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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels July 27, 2004 Centenarian celebrates long life of reading Cora Mason was the librarian at the Ashland Public Library By Bill Choy Ashland Daily Tidings Cora Mason believes the secret to a long life is simple: Live life in moderation and be active. Mason turns 100 today. Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings Cora Mason smiles as she meets her great-great-nephew, Garrett McMahon, during a party celebrating her 100th birthday. The former head librarian for the Ashland Public Library, she has quite an active life at the Rogue Valley Manor in Medford, where she has lived for more than 30 years. She tends almost daily to her rose garden, which boasts 85 plants and brings roses to shut-ins, and moves many of her friends around the facility in their wheelchairs. Mason can also be seen weaving on a loom in the facility early in the morning and late into the night and has also worked at the manor's library for many years. "That's why I'm still here. Being active plays a part in how long we live," she said at her birthday celebration, attended by more than 100 friends and relatives at the manor on Monday. "We're built to thrive and be active and to do things. We need to do things that make us happy and to be with people in fellowship. ... When I looked at the calendar and saw it was 2004 and I was going to be 100, I was surprised. I'm just lucky to still be so healthy. I've got good heritage. My grandmother lived until she was 92." At her party, Mason moved briskly and with purpose from table to table, greeting friends both old and new. Marilee Titus, 70, Mason's niece, smiled as her aunt made the rounds. "She has always been so energetic," she said. "She's unbelievable. I watch her and I'm hopeful for the future because she and her friends are still so active. It shows that people can be useful for their entire lives." Titus and her brothers, David and Dean Mason, helped organize the celebration. Cora Mason never married. A good friend Mary Louise Pride, 95, has lived at the manor for 29 years and has been close friends with Mason the entire time. Often, Mason will bring Pride flowers from her garden and help her around the facility. "She is a lovely Christian person," Pride said. "She keeps bringing me those lovely flowers from her garden and helps get me to vespers. It shows she still loves me like I still love her. She is such a marvelous friend." It meant a lot to Mason to have so many people celebrate her 100 birthday. "I was so surprised. I just didn't expect all of this," she said. "I know all these people. I eat breakfast with them or pass them in the hallways. We're all a big family here." A life fully lived Mason was born and raised in Knoxville, Tenn., and moved with her late brother George to the Ashland area when she was 17, staying summers with an aunt while both attended Oregon State University in Corvallis. After graduation, she worked a number of jobs in Ashland, including being a secretary for Ashland school superintendent George A. Briscoe. After receiving her master's degree in library science, Mason worked at the Ashland library for more than 25 years, including being the head librarian. When she left the library when she was in her 60s, Mason decided not to just settle into retirement. For seven years, she served as a librarian in India as part of a Methodist church mission. She has been a long time member of the First United Methodist Church in Ashland. "It was a complete change for me," she said. "I didn't know Hindi, but they knew English and we all got along all right." Looking back, Mason is proud to have lived a full life and to still be able to do the things she loves. She is pleased that many of her years were spent as a librarian, helping others discover the world of books. For Mason, reading is a vital foundation of civilization and an essential part of broadening people's horizons. "I'd got to meet so many wonderful people," she said about being a librarian. "It's about service and education." David Mason, 59, of Lakeview, remembered his aunt introducing him to books from the likes of Winston Churchill when he was 13. Each week, the younger Mason, who was born and raised in Ashland, would go to her house and read aloud for her. "She was very passionate about reading and books," he said. "While I didn't like it at the time, later on, I realized the importance of what she was doing." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams