Volunteer of the year in 2011
LONG BEACH James Mason — a long-time volunteer at the Long Beach LGBTQ Center and benefits specialist at the CARE Program at St. Mary Medical Center — was renowned for being a social butterfly, friends and colleagues said.
Mason died from Hodgkin's lymphoma on Jan. 1. He was 49.
"If I was at a party and James was at a party, there would be no need to point him out to anyone," said Michael Buitron, HIV testing project coordinator with St. Mary Medical Center, who worked with Mason four years at the hospital's CARE Program. "By the time I would have arrived, James would have walked around the room, met everyone and got their names."
Coupled with Mason's gregarious personality was his ability to empathize, said Mason's boyfriend of five years, Chris Meraz, 56.
"James always cared about everyone's well-being. When he got the (benefits specialist) job at the CARE Program (the area's largest and most comprehensive HIV/AIDS treatment program), it was his dream job," Meraz said. "Everyday he got to help people get their benefits."
"Helping people was an essential part of James' nature," Buitron said. "It was important to him. He was always looking for ways to help people. I've never met anyone like him."
Mason previously was diagnosed twice with the cancer and thought he had beaten it both times before the third diagnosis last January, Meraz said.
But even when Mason's health took a turn for the worst and he went on permanent disability, Mason remained optimistic, Buitron said.
"James had this idea he would come back to work," Buitron said. "In the world today, it's really easy to be jaded or cynical, but James was this ball of optimism. That was unique and special about him."
Mason was born in Albuquerque, N.M., Aug. 12, 1965 and raised on a horse ranch by his mother, Leslie Mason-Benaka.
Mason graduated high school when he was 16 and, a few months later, attended Colorado College in Colorado Springs. He majored in business and minored in math, Meraz said.
After college, Mason worked about 15 years with Hallmark, traveling the country to help stores display greeting cards.
Mason moved to Long Beach in the early 1990s and was a pharmaceutical sales representative for several years before he started volunteering about 2007 at the LGBTQ Center, where he helped run the front desk.
Meraz, who met Mason in 2010 at a gathering at a mutual friend's house, was impressed by Mason's volunteering.
"James won me over from the start," Meraz said. "I liked the fact that he was all about the community. His volunteer work impressed me."
They started dating about a week later.
"I won him over with food," Meraz said, chuckling. "I'm a pretty good cook, so I brought him some enchiladas for dinner. The best way to a man's heart is his stomach."
Mason, who was named volunteer of the year in 2011, left the Center that same year when he joined the staff at the CARE Program.
"James was very passionate about connecting people. That's what made him invaluable at the front desk," said Ron Sylvester, the Center's board president and chair. "He was always smiling, which is great for people to see when they walked into the Center.
"James really embodied the volunteer system," Sylvester said. "If heaven has a volunteer program, he's already working for it."
LONG BEACH James Mason — a long-time volunteer at the Long Beach LGBTQ Center and benefits specialist at the CARE Program at St. Mary Medical Center — was renowned for being a social butterfly, friends and colleagues said.
Mason died from Hodgkin's lymphoma on Jan. 1. He was 49.
"If I was at a party and James was at a party, there would be no need to point him out to anyone," said Michael Buitron, HIV testing project coordinator with St. Mary Medical Center, who worked with Mason four years at the hospital's CARE Program. "By the time I would have arrived, James would have walked around the room, met everyone and got their names."
Coupled with Mason's gregarious personality was his ability to empathize, said Mason's boyfriend of five years, Chris Meraz, 56.
"James always cared about everyone's well-being. When he got the (benefits specialist) job at the CARE Program (the area's largest and most comprehensive HIV/AIDS treatment program), it was his dream job," Meraz said. "Everyday he got to help people get their benefits."
"Helping people was an essential part of James' nature," Buitron said. "It was important to him. He was always looking for ways to help people. I've never met anyone like him."
Mason previously was diagnosed twice with the cancer and thought he had beaten it both times before the third diagnosis last January, Meraz said.
But even when Mason's health took a turn for the worst and he went on permanent disability, Mason remained optimistic, Buitron said.
"James had this idea he would come back to work," Buitron said. "In the world today, it's really easy to be jaded or cynical, but James was this ball of optimism. That was unique and special about him."
Mason was born in Albuquerque, N.M., Aug. 12, 1965 and raised on a horse ranch by his mother, Leslie Mason-Benaka.
Mason graduated high school when he was 16 and, a few months later, attended Colorado College in Colorado Springs. He majored in business and minored in math, Meraz said.
After college, Mason worked about 15 years with Hallmark, traveling the country to help stores display greeting cards.
Mason moved to Long Beach in the early 1990s and was a pharmaceutical sales representative for several years before he started volunteering about 2007 at the LGBTQ Center, where he helped run the front desk.
Meraz, who met Mason in 2010 at a gathering at a mutual friend's house, was impressed by Mason's volunteering.
"James won me over from the start," Meraz said. "I liked the fact that he was all about the community. His volunteer work impressed me."
They started dating about a week later.
"I won him over with food," Meraz said, chuckling. "I'm a pretty good cook, so I brought him some enchiladas for dinner. The best way to a man's heart is his stomach."
Mason, who was named volunteer of the year in 2011, left the Center that same year when he joined the staff at the CARE Program.
"James was very passionate about connecting people. That's what made him invaluable at the front desk," said Ron Sylvester, the Center's board president and chair. "He was always smiling, which is great for people to see when they walked into the Center.
"James really embodied the volunteer system," Sylvester said. "If heaven has a volunteer program, he's already working for it."
Volunteer of the year in 2011
LONG BEACH James Mason — a long-time volunteer at the Long Beach LGBTQ Center and benefits specialist at the CARE Program at St. Mary Medical Center — was renowned for being a social butterfly, friends and colleagues said.
Mason died from Hodgkin's lymphoma on Jan. 1. He was 49.
"If I was at a party and James was at a party, there would be no need to point him out to anyone," said Michael Buitron, HIV testing project coordinator with St. Mary Medical Center, who worked with Mason four years at the hospital's CARE Program. "By the time I would have arrived, James would have walked around the room, met everyone and got their names."
Coupled with Mason's gregarious personality was his ability to empathize, said Mason's boyfriend of five years, Chris Meraz, 56.
"James always cared about everyone's well-being. When he got the (benefits specialist) job at the CARE Program (the area's largest and most comprehensive HIV/AIDS treatment program), it was his dream job," Meraz said. "Everyday he got to help people get their benefits."
"Helping people was an essential part of James' nature," Buitron said. "It was important to him. He was always looking for ways to help people. I've never met anyone like him."
Mason previously was diagnosed twice with the cancer and thought he had beaten it both times before the third diagnosis last January, Meraz said.
But even when Mason's health took a turn for the worst and he went on permanent disability, Mason remained optimistic, Buitron said.
"James had this idea he would come back to work," Buitron said. "In the world today, it's really easy to be jaded or cynical, but James was this ball of optimism. That was unique and special about him."
Mason was born in Albuquerque, N.M., Aug. 12, 1965 and raised on a horse ranch by his mother, Leslie Mason-Benaka.
Mason graduated high school when he was 16 and, a few months later, attended Colorado College in Colorado Springs. He majored in business and minored in math, Meraz said.
After college, Mason worked about 15 years with Hallmark, traveling the country to help stores display greeting cards.
Mason moved to Long Beach in the early 1990s and was a pharmaceutical sales representative for several years before he started volunteering about 2007 at the LGBTQ Center, where he helped run the front desk.
Meraz, who met Mason in 2010 at a gathering at a mutual friend's house, was impressed by Mason's volunteering.
"James won me over from the start," Meraz said. "I liked the fact that he was all about the community. His volunteer work impressed me."
They started dating about a week later.
"I won him over with food," Meraz said, chuckling. "I'm a pretty good cook, so I brought him some enchiladas for dinner. The best way to a man's heart is his stomach."
Mason, who was named volunteer of the year in 2011, left the Center that same year when he joined the staff at the CARE Program.
"James was very passionate about connecting people. That's what made him invaluable at the front desk," said Ron Sylvester, the Center's board president and chair. "He was always smiling, which is great for people to see when they walked into the Center.
"James really embodied the volunteer system," Sylvester said. "If heaven has a volunteer program, he's already working for it."
LONG BEACH James Mason — a long-time volunteer at the Long Beach LGBTQ Center and benefits specialist at the CARE Program at St. Mary Medical Center — was renowned for being a social butterfly, friends and colleagues said.
Mason died from Hodgkin's lymphoma on Jan. 1. He was 49.
"If I was at a party and James was at a party, there would be no need to point him out to anyone," said Michael Buitron, HIV testing project coordinator with St. Mary Medical Center, who worked with Mason four years at the hospital's CARE Program. "By the time I would have arrived, James would have walked around the room, met everyone and got their names."
Coupled with Mason's gregarious personality was his ability to empathize, said Mason's boyfriend of five years, Chris Meraz, 56.
"James always cared about everyone's well-being. When he got the (benefits specialist) job at the CARE Program (the area's largest and most comprehensive HIV/AIDS treatment program), it was his dream job," Meraz said. "Everyday he got to help people get their benefits."
"Helping people was an essential part of James' nature," Buitron said. "It was important to him. He was always looking for ways to help people. I've never met anyone like him."
Mason previously was diagnosed twice with the cancer and thought he had beaten it both times before the third diagnosis last January, Meraz said.
But even when Mason's health took a turn for the worst and he went on permanent disability, Mason remained optimistic, Buitron said.
"James had this idea he would come back to work," Buitron said. "In the world today, it's really easy to be jaded or cynical, but James was this ball of optimism. That was unique and special about him."
Mason was born in Albuquerque, N.M., Aug. 12, 1965 and raised on a horse ranch by his mother, Leslie Mason-Benaka.
Mason graduated high school when he was 16 and, a few months later, attended Colorado College in Colorado Springs. He majored in business and minored in math, Meraz said.
After college, Mason worked about 15 years with Hallmark, traveling the country to help stores display greeting cards.
Mason moved to Long Beach in the early 1990s and was a pharmaceutical sales representative for several years before he started volunteering about 2007 at the LGBTQ Center, where he helped run the front desk.
Meraz, who met Mason in 2010 at a gathering at a mutual friend's house, was impressed by Mason's volunteering.
"James won me over from the start," Meraz said. "I liked the fact that he was all about the community. His volunteer work impressed me."
They started dating about a week later.
"I won him over with food," Meraz said, chuckling. "I'm a pretty good cook, so I brought him some enchiladas for dinner. The best way to a man's heart is his stomach."
Mason, who was named volunteer of the year in 2011, left the Center that same year when he joined the staff at the CARE Program.
"James was very passionate about connecting people. That's what made him invaluable at the front desk," said Ron Sylvester, the Center's board president and chair. "He was always smiling, which is great for people to see when they walked into the Center.
"James really embodied the volunteer system," Sylvester said. "If heaven has a volunteer program, he's already working for it."
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