Cora Louise Mason Obituary (1929

Cora Louise (Nessly) Mason was born April 3, 1929, in Yakima, Washington to Charles W. and Ruth E. (Dondanville) Nessly. She passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by family and friends on February 14, 2015. Cora grew up in Prosser and graduated from Prosser High School in 1947 as her class salutatorian. She attended Eastern Washington College of Education at Cheney and St. Elizabeth School of Nursing in Yakima. On June 4, 1950, she married Walter E. Mason of Prosser, and they had two children, Carol and Chuck. While the children were young, Cora was active in the Cooperative Kindergarten and preschool PTA, was a Cub Scout den mother, a volunteer for United Good Neighbors, the Heart Fund, Red Cross, and Community Concert Association, and a member of Heart and Home Extension Club, the Prosser Business and Professional Women, Credit Women International, and the Meridian Club. Her interest in art led to her election as president of the Prosser Art Association. She was a Sunday school teacher at Prosser First United Presbyterian Church and also directed youth and adult choirs, and played the piano for church services. She taught piano lessons to many Prosser youth. Her employment included assistant clerk in the Benton County Treasurer's office, secretary/teller at Valley Savings and Loan and later, Yakima Federal Savings and Loan, and secretary for local attorneys. She was an executive secretary for USDA scientists at the Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center. Interested in personal computers before most people knew they existed, she started her own business, Comptyme, in the early 1970s, which provided computer services for local customers. She attended Columbia Basin College in the 1970s, completing two years with an emphasis in music. At CBC she also discovered an interest in early childhood education and participated in the CBC Cooperative Preschool for several years, and had a desire to write stories for children. But her writing abilities took her in a different direction, when the Friends of the Library asked her to complete an oral history of Prosser, an endeavor requiring many hours of interviewing Prosser's "old-timers," recording their memories and tales of yesteryear on cassette tapes. The tapes were then organized, transcribed, edited and re-taped for final production. Four volumes of Conversations: Early Prosser Revisited and the accompanying recordings have been placed in the Prosser library and the Benton County Historical Museum. For this work, Cora was honored as Prosser's Outstanding Lady of the Year in 1981. In later years, Cora and her husband Walt enjoyed the morning coffee downtown get-togethers which met first at Elfers-Lyon Pharmacy and later at Caffe Villa. There her many friends knew her as "Corky," a nickname given to her as a child by her older brothers, and by which she was known by her long-time friends and all her relatives. Cora and Walt, great fans of the Prosser States Day celebration, were honored in 2010 as the grand marshals of the parade. She was preceded in death by her husband, Walt; her parents, C.W. and Ruth Nessly; her brothers, Claude, Laurence and Robert Nessly; and her granddaughter, Angela Marx. Survivors include her son and daughter, Chuck Mason of Langley, and his wife Trish, and Carol Marx of Prosser; grandchildren, Randy Mason and Heidi of Gig Harbor, Hattie Mason and Pam Mason of Seattle; David Marx of Prosser, Dan Marx of Spokane and Jennifer Vacovsky and Joe of Atascadero, CA.; great-grandchildren, Charlie and Riley Cora Joy Mason of Gig Harbor and Cora Rose Vacovsky of Atascadero, and numerous nieces and nephews. A private family graveside service at the Prosser Cemetery, followed by an open house at 928 Market St. from 2 to 5 p.m. for friends, will be held April 11. Arrangements are by Prosser Funeral Home. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to Heartlinks Hospice (3920 Outlook Rd. Sunnyside, WA 98944) or the Benton County Historical Museum (P.O Box 1407, Prosser, WA 99350).