A LEGACY FOR THE LIVING

By Ash Gwendale Photos By Matt Johnson 

Under the dead of night in 1948, an apprentice named Andrew “Pete” McClasky entered the back entrance of a competing funeral home to help embalm a body. Embalmers knew the backlash that would come from having a competing apprentice working on clients, so they hid him. McClasky was summoned for many difficult cases after developing a significant reputation in the art of body restoration within his family business, George R. Mason Sr. Funeral Home. The funeral home and Smoketown institution carries a legacy spanning from hidden talent to community leadership as it celebrates 120 years in business. 

After McClasky tragically died in a car accident, his nephew, George R. Mason Jr. acquired the business with one goal: Provide excellent and affordable service to families in the Smoketown area. George had a strategic eye for branding: partnering with local churches, sponsoring community initiatives, and feeding profits back into the same community who supported him. This approach to relationship building resulted in a more personal way of handling the grief of clients. Families felt at ease because George grew the funeral home into a trusted space where clients were treated like family. “That is one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from Daddy. He had a business mindset that transformed the funeral home from a small family operation to a staple in Smoketown.” Says Gwendolyn Mason, who succeeded her father George as the company’s first female Owner and Funeral Director in 2022. 

Gwendolyn went to mortuary school while balancing a young family and corporate management. Stories like Uncle Pete’s were inspiring and served as a direct example of what is possible when you focus on being great in your field. “We have generations of family members who express that their loved one would ‘roll over in their grave’ if their services were not with Mason’s. It may add levity, but this speaks volumes to the service we provide. I enjoy caring for the family, although my deepest passion is in the preparation of the deceased. Being able to bring a person to the point where the family is pleased and in awe is so gratifying.” 

As the team at Mason’s Funeral Home looks forward to the next 120 years of service, Gwendolyn is eyeing ways to prepare local families for the inevitable. “We always encourage loved ones to sit down and release the discomfort of talking about death with their family. Know their wishes, let yours be known as well. Preparation will always give some relief to those left behind. As for preparing for our future, I see the legacy of George R. Mason Sr. Funeral Home as continuing to service the Smoketown community for years to come. We are proud to continue to honor my great grandfather who started the business in 1906.” Gwendolyn seeks to continue the lineage of providing families with remarkable comfort and care, bringing a renewed spark of life to the industry of death.