Tributes

Sue Cockeram Mason (October 3, 1929 – November 30, 2023) Her daughters could always tell when someone had first met their mother. Anna Marie Cockeram was known as Suzanne as a child, as Suzie in college, and as Sue as an adult. Sue died in her Timberhill Place Assisted Living apartment in Corvallis at the age of 94. Born at home on her family’s Red Hill sheep farm near Yoncalla as the stock market crashed, little Suzanne Cockeram got first crack at the weekly bath in water heated on the wood stove in a house without electricity or running water. She volunteered as a teenager for the Aircraft Warning Service at a local observation post during World War II, scanning the skies for enemy aircraft. Valedictorian for Yoncalla High School class of 16, Suzie Cockeram followed her brother Donald to Oregon State College (now OSU), where she became Interested in journalism and worked at the Barometer student newspaper. The features editor, Robert Mason, noticed Suzie right away and swept her off her feet. Because OSC did not offer a journalism degree, Suzie transferred to the University of Oregon in her junior year. Not wanting Suzie to get away, Bob bought a car, so he could visit on weekends, sleeping on an accommodating friend’s couch. After their marriage in 1951, the couple moved to the Midwest, where Sue worked at the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison and the Ames (Iowa) Tribune before returning to Corvallis to start their family. While raising daughters Nancy and Laurie, Sue invested countless volunteer hours and held leadership positions with the OSU Folk Club Thrift Shop, Assistance League, PEO Chapter DQ, and the Good Samaritan Hospital gift shop. She also kept busy with bridge, reading, crafts and getting together with friends. The family enjoyed trips to the beach and the Cascades. In 1973, Sue’s former Barometer advisor (and then current chair) invited Sue to teach at OSU’s Technical Journalism Department. She accepted, and taught for 18 years, earning a Master's degree along the way. She also advised the student chapter of Women In Communications, Inc. (WICI), and was recognized with three National WICI advising awards. Her former students, family members and many friends remember her dazzling smile and her kindness in listening while they talked through their problems. A take-no-prisoners card player and wicked ping-pong competitor, Sue taught her daughters to play fair and work hard, to enjoy winning but also lose with grace, and to appreciate success in those around them. She emphasized that if one can write well, one can do anything. In later years, Sue and Bob traveled the world. Favorites were ancestral countries England and Scotland, as well as Japan, Australia and Switzerland. Because of the loving care of Timberhill staff members, her therapeutic massage therapist Don, her aides Olga and Linda, her trainers from Fitness Over Fifty and (more recently) support from Lumina Hospice, as well as visits, calls, cards and emails from her many friends and family members, Sue’s end of life was truly peaceful. Sue’s ashes, combined with those of the husband she lost after 60 years of marriage, will be scattered on the Oregon Coast at a place they both loved by daughters who will miss them dearly. Sue was preceded in death by her parents, Harvey and Verne Strader Cockeram, who were descendants of Oregon Trail pioneers; her brother Donald Cockeram; and Laurie’s life partner, Arthur Robbins. She is survived by her daughter Nancy Mason Vandell (Clark) of San Ramon, California; her daughter Laurie Mason of Corvallis; and her grandson, Perry Vandell, who is following in his grandparents’ and aunt’s footsteps as a newspaper reporter, at the Arizona Republic in Phoenix. Donations in Sue's name would be welcome at any of her favorite charities, including Lumina Hospice and the Community Services Consortium (food bank). Whether sailing to a country across the world or relaxing with friends closer to home, Sue would raise a gin and tonic and say happily, “Isn’t this just the life?” Yes, Sue - it was a wonderful life, well lived.

Tributes

Sue Anna Marie (Cockeram) Mason

October 3, 1929 - November 30, 2023