Port Protection loses community kingpin

Port Protection lost a larger than life resident last week when Jack Mason passed away, and the impact will be felt for years to come.

Mason, 88, passed away Aug. 11, 2016 at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington.

He was known for always being on the go and he worked up until the moment he had to be medevaced off the island last Tuesday. A generator went down in the middle of the night and Mason tripped and fell in his bedroom. He hit his head, causing a brain injury, but Mason walked to work the next morning although he didn't feel good. The nurse practitioner was eventually called and said he needed immediate medical attention but since the weather was not good, the U.S. Coast Guard flew him off the island.

Mason basically ran everything for decades and touched the lives of many who call the small community on the north end of Prince of Wales Island home, according to Litzi Botello, who worked on and off at the store with Mason for years. Botello might have been considered an employee of Mason's, but she says she was a friend first. Mason had a lot of friends, and some of his best friends had four legs.

"He had a constant supply of dog biscuits, in the store or in his pockets, and all the dogs knew that and every time they'd see him, including my dog," Botello says. "He'd pass them all out, it didn't matter if there were 10 or one."

She first met Mason when he moved to Port Protection in the early 80s, and refers to him as an "all-around really good guy." Botello would often offer Mason a ride home after work but he would politely decline. Instead he walked to and from work every day, about a 20 minute walk each way. He said it was easier than getting in and out of a skiff, even though he was in great physical shape for his age.

"Anybody who knew him, knew that the old man never, never stopped," she says. "There is a huge hole that can never be filled again."

Botello says Mason had a lot of best friends, and a lot of guys in the community are "really, really going to miss him and his company." The gravity of loss has yet to really sink in, she says.

Port Protection resident Terri Metcalf spent 20 years getting to know Mason, and her daughter even named her son his last name. One of the funniest recent memories Metcalf has is a scene of Mason doing a moose call on the reality television show depicting life in the small island community. She says there are many good memories of Mason and she calls him a "legend."

"I've always felt that he was immortal, because he just kept ticking and working hard," Metcalf says. "Now that he's gone it's kind of weird because he is immortal, there's Jackisms everywhere. He was the hub of the wheel around here, even though he's gone he's just everywhere still."

Mason was a veteran and a philanthropist who never stopped looking out for others or giving.

"Whenever anybody needed help, Jack was there to assist," she says. "He would harass people, he'd bicker with people, bark at people, but his heart went out to people when they were in need."

Metcalf admits she's worried about the impact the loss will have on her community. She hopes everything will settle and a new beginning will not stop the community from producing and being a hub for so many in Southeast Alaska.

"I trust that his family will keep in mind the community's needs and necessities," she says. "The store is the community, it's downtown, and I trust that the family will respect that."

The day after Mason was taken out of Port Protection, a cabin burned down there and resident Tom Phillips received second and third degree burns in the incident. However, Phillips, who was also being treated at Harborview, didn't let his injuries stop him from visiting his old friend, says Mason's oldest child Jackie Pata.

"He came up from the burn unit and sat there, and talked to my dad for almost an hour. It was wonderful," she says of Phillips visiting her father. "They'd known each other for a long time and it was important for Tom, and I know that my dad knew he was there."

Mason passed away surrounded by family. All six of his children, his wife, his brothers and sisters and nephews all rushed to be there and say goodbye.

"Everybody was there. It was amazing. The hospital probably wanted to kick us out, we had like over 20 people around him constantly," Pata says. "He was alert and he knew we were there. He was awake, to the extent that he could be with the sedatives. We could talk to him, his eyes responded, we knew he was listening to us."

While in the hospital, Pata and her siblings organized a deal with Trident to make sure fish buying was immediately available at Port Protection. The day after Mason passed away she traveled to the community to begin the process of sorting through papers and attempting to piece together Mason's thoughts. The family is looking out for the future of the Port Protection community, just like Mason would have wanted, and the community is responding as best they can.

"We want to make sure that everything is kept operational for the community. It's been really nice to be out here," Pata says. "Everybody comes up and says, 'Your dad was so special to me.'"

A memorial service is planned for this Saturday, Aug. 20 at 2 p.m. The service will be held in Juneau at the Lemon Creek Mormon Church.