My late friend, Otis Mason, was a heroic, epic St. Johns County school administrator who was twice elected School Supt. of St. Johns County in the midst of a county that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called "one of the most lawless" in America. So our entrenched St. Johns County political machine hounded him from office, providing for School Board selection of the School Supt. Three times voters were asked to do the bidding of the KKK, and only on the third try did they agree to provide for School Board picking our School Supts. I was honored to get to know Mr. Mason when he as a member of the City Commission's "Journey" exhibit advisory committee on African-American and Civil Rights history here in St. Augustine. Mr. Mason told me how proud he was of our City's slow but sure recovery from Jim Crow racism. He was especially proud of his having introduced Eddie Vickers to Barbara: the Vickers were part of our community's persuasive and powerful "soulfire," as it was aptly called by the Rev. Andrew Young (nearly killed in St. Augustine in 1964, future Atlanta Congressman and later President Jimmy Carter's splendid United Nations Ambassador).
Update: City Hall in St. Augustine will fly the American flag at half staff in his honor on Saturday, January 27, 2024.
From WJCT:
Otis Mason: Beloved St. Johns County educator passes away
Otis Alphonso Mason, a St. Augustine native who rose to become St. Johns County’s first Black superintendent of schools after decades as a teacher and principal, has died at age 94.
Called “the consummate educator” in his biography on the St. Augustine Ketterlinus High School Alumni website, Mason also served in the U.S. Army after a college baseball career.
Announcing her father’s death in a Facebook post Tuesday, daughter Pam Mason said he “drew his last breath on Earth earlier this afternoon, joining his mother, father, brothers and other family members in Heaven.”
“He was an honorable husband to Myrtis for 73 years, a stellar father to Dee Dee and Pam and a legendary example to his grandson Jamil,” Pam Mason wrote. “We ask that you keep us in your prayers and provide the privacy needed as a family while plans for his life’s celebration are made.”
At the school named for Mason on Mason Manatee Way in St. Augustine, staff reflected on his contributions in a Facebook post. It asked others to honor the school “by continuing to uphold the values and ideals he cherished. May his spirit inspire generations to come.” And in the many condolences on the Facebook page, one woman called him the ”sweetest and kindest man.”
“I will treasure the times I was able to meet him,” the message read. “He loved our school and kids so much. And they loved him. Rest easy sir, all my love to his wonderful family.”
Otis Alphonso Mason was born in Lincolnville, graduating in 1946 from Excelsior High School, the first public Black high school in St. Johns County. He earned an undergraduate degree with honors from Florida A&M University in 1950 and was named to the university’s Sports Hall of Fame for baseball, his alumni biography states.
Mason began teaching at Excelsior in 1950, only to be drafted into the U.S. Army that year due to the Korean war. Returning to Excelsior two years later, he was assigned to work at the new Murray High School as a science teacher, as well as assistant football and baseball coach.
Mason continued his own education, receiving a bachelor’s degree in physical education with honors from FAMU in 1950. He received his master’s degree in education administration in 1958 at New York University. Two years later, he was named principal of W.E. Harris School in Hastings, then became supervisor of elementary schools for the district in 1966.
As supervisor, Mason pushed for the implementation of full integration of St. Johns County schools. And in 1984, when he won election as the county’s first Black superintendent, he directed major renovations to St. Augustine High School, starting in 1986 with its auditorium, then the media center, B Hall and cafeteria in 1991, his biography said.
Mason won reelection in 1988 and served until his retirement in 1992, when the superintendent position became a hired administrative position. But he did not retire from community advocacy.
Along with being active in the graduate chapter of his college fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, he was on the board of the St. Johns County Welfare Federation and the Excelsior Museum and Cultural Center of Lincolnville, sponsored by the Friends of Lincolnville, of which he was a president. He also was on the boards of the Dr. Martin L. King Celebration Committee, the Fort Mose Historical Society and the Venetian Club. Mason was appointed in 1995 to the St. Johns River Water Management District Governing Board.
The Otis Mason Elementary School in St. Augustine also bears his name.
In a St. Augustine Record story in 2014, Mason commented on how he stayed busy even in retirement, including visiting the school named after him.
“One of the primary reasons I find it hard to say ‘no’ when it comes to community organizations is that I try very hard to improve the lives of other people,” he said in a recent interview.
His honors include induction into the St. Johns County Sports Hall of Fame and receipt of the St. Johns County School District’s Learning Legacy Lifetime Achievement Award. He also was named to Florida A&M’s Gallery of Distinguished Educators.
In April 2022, Florida A&M conferred an honorary doctorate degree on him during its commencement ceremony.
“He has demonstrated servant leadership throughout his personal and professional life,” a news release said at the time. “He tirelessly served the St. Johns County community as a teacher, a principal, an instructional supervisor and as the elected superintendent of schools.”
During his tenure as superintendent, Mason worked to send many St. Augustine students to that historically black university, the news release stated.
“Many later returned to St. Johns County as teachers,” it said. “As a tribute to Mason’s contributions to education, an elementary school in St. Augustine was named in his honor.”
No funeral plans have been announced. Mason is survived by his daughters, Pamela and Deidre, and grandson, Jamil.
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