Mrs. Lois (Mason) Slocum passed away quietly Sun, May 2, 2004, at 96 years of age in Millerville, AL of a short illness.
She wanted to go back to Neebish uninhibited as before and things be back to the way things were a lot of years ago. But time marches on, and this time she chose not to march along with time.
Lois, of Neebish Island, was born Apr 26, 1908, at Barker Creek, MI, to Howard Sherman Mason and Alviria (Wygent) Mason. Her parents and family lived many years in Kalkaska.
She graduated Kalkaska High School in 1924 at the age of 16. Following graduation, she worked for an attorney in Kalkaska for a year. She graduated from teacher's college in Kalamazoo in 1926. Her first job as a teacher was in a one room school house teaching grades K-8 on Sugar Island in Michigan; later teaching on Neebish Island, MI. She followed this profession until she married in 1937.
On Jul 26, 1937, in Traverse County, she married Ralph Franklin Slocum. They made their home on Neebish Island, where she has lived over 67 years. She was an avid reader of books (setting a goal of 100 books a year to read), loved all cats, her home on Neebish Island and watching the great ships sail past her home on the St Mary's River between the Great Lakes. She truly loved living there with her friends.
She was a member of the Neebish Island Pioneer Association.
She was a mentor for her many nieces and nephews over her lifetime, stressing the importance of doing your best in everything that you do.
Education was very important to her. Her motto was, "If it's worth doing, then do it to the best of your ability or it's not worth doing in the first place." She touched many lives during her lifetime by always remembering and caring about her family and friends. You could always count on her to remember a birthday and special occasions by a card. Her home on Neebish was always open for family and friends to visit during the summer months. She was a true inspiration to the younger generation for living her life the way she chose. She will be truly missed by her family and many friends, and will never be forgotten as there will never be another Lois or Aunt Lois.
She is survived by sisters, Zora Pernelia Runion, Montevallo, AL, and Lorna Alviria Grow of Alexandria, KY; brothers, Alva Darrell Mason of Jackson, MI, and Walter Arlo Mason of Chicago, IL; a sister in law, Marie Mason of Merrillville, IN; a host of nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews, and now great great nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Ralph Franklin Slocum in 1961; brothers, Milton Delos Mason, Howard Duane Mason, Royden Crawford Mason, and Lloyd Horace Mason; sisters, Agatha Rose Haller and Alice Ione Chaffin; brothers in law, Charles Grow, Leland Runion, Max Haller, and James Chaffin, and sisters in law, Charlotte Martina Mason, Mabel Mason, Margery Mason, Olive Mason and Lucille Mason.
