Update on Don Mason...

"I know many of you have been wondering where Don has been for the last month. It has been a shock to us but he has been diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer which has spread to his liver and lungs. He's been in the hospital for the last two weeks and we are focusing on getting him strong enough to go home. We are hoping to be able to do some sort of further treatment but with his previous heart and lung issues he may never be able to tolerate taking further measures. His quality of life is what is most important to us right now. He is awake and in no pain but just not well enough to talk or post right now. We appreciate your love and concern."
Susan Mason

Susan, I'm so sorry to hear this. Don has always been my favorite at Synthzone.
/fozzie from Sweden

Susan, we all care and are concerned and wish you both the best.

Very sad news.
Sending lots of positive energy and the very best wishes for
our longtime SZ friend Don, his wife Susan and family.

GJ

I‘m also sad to learn that Don and his family are facing such a tough challenge, and I wish him and his family strength and as much healing energy as possible.

Hang in there Don. You got a lot of friends pulling for you.

So sorry to hear this! Don hosted an arranger jam a while back and made me feel very welcome even though I'm not a pro and was a total newbie! Praying for you and Don!!

I always love Don’s posts, his music, and his warmth and wisdom. Our best wishes go out to him and his family… ♥️

I have been a member of SZ for over 20 years now ( though blatantly absent over the last 12 months, I admit) and have come to know Don as one of the most helpful,kindest and most proficient keyboard musician. It has invariably been a pleasure to listen to his ( often live) recordings and has no doubt been helpful to many in deciding which arranger keyboard to purchase.
I am sad to learn about his and Susan's predicament and wish them strength. Don, many people think of you during these hard times, not only your friends and family !!
sincere best wishes from Holland,
John Smies

Don & Susan Thinking of you both from the UK.

Each day, I ask God to grant you strength and I pray you will get over this sickness. Just keep in mind that you are not alone, but surrounded by people who care about you. I always will keep praying for you.
You have been my dear friend for over 30 years, my inspiration & my musical hero. Stay strong, I love you man!

Bless Don and Susan. best of luck getting better. we all miss you
MEL

Don and Susan

I can speak for all of Canada........ We are all rootin' for you guys....

Sending all our wishes and prayers to both of you

Ron

You have been a major influence on me in so many ways and knowing you has made my life better. I am praying for you everyday.

¡Amigos para siempre!

Paul

So very sad to hear about this. I hope Don can experience easy rest and a pain free recovery (and miracles do happen). My prayers and well wishes go out to Don and family.

Sorry to hear of this-best wishes to Don and his family.

Nigel and I are so appreciative of Don's friendship, expertise, his witty,informative contributions to our SynthZone family over the years has been invaluable.Don's ability to share, encourage and assist all the players on the forum to enhance their technical abilities, decision making and confidence is a rare skill for which we are so grateful he chose to share with us. Sending positives, strength and prayers to both Susan and Don.

Prayers for both of you...

I have known Don for 22 years know.
I remember the first posts I followed on the old Synthzone platform regarding the PSR-8000.
I always enjoyed reading his posts.
Always a true Gentleman and great musician.
Lots of Love and prayers to you and your family
Eric

I have known about this for several weeks and keep in contact with Susan weekly about his condition and any updates. I was reluctant to post anything about this, mainly because of obvious consequences when posting something of this nature on the Internet. Don and I have been good friends for many, many years, and talked weekly on the telephone about various issues, mainly dealing with music.

All the best,

Gary

Here's hoping for the BEST POSSIBLE outcome!

Russ

Sending prayers.

Gary shared this update with us on FB..

"Don Mason is home from the hospital, getting some much needed rest and trying to regain some of his strength. He is surrounded by his loving family, who are providing as much support as possible.
Good luck, old friend,"........

Thank's a lot for the update Donny.
It's great that you and Gary bring him all the good wishes and all the positive energy from his SZ friends.

GJ

I have attached the word special when I am talking about Don. Like, “Don is my special friend”.

I have bought keyboards from him --- read his every post --- asked him to send me more of his because I was making a Don Mason folder --- talked to him on the phone --- and trusted him. I bought a Pa4x sight-un-seen, a microphone, and some other things; and sent a check before he had a chance to ship the item.

Don, I wish you a recovery so that you may enjoy more of your life. Take good care my freind, John C.

PS, Don, I'm betting you had a lot to do with Doony going from annoying to a sweetheart. (smile)

I’m trying to cope with news like this by distracting myself, which may appear as indifference; Don has always impressed me with his commitment to his job, he kept performing on stage while lots of people including myself stayed in their “home offices”, even after being hospitalized with the virus Don was back in the game in no time; somehow it seems that some power wants to fight Don no matter what, seeing how brave and willed he is, I know that Don is a winner already, and believe that one way or another he will be awarded for all the dignity and attention he has been showing to people.

Kabinopus, I love your post, John C.

Update on Don Mason

"Hello family & friends, this is Don's wife Susan. It's been a while since we've posted and I know at lot of you have been asking about Don. In addition to his heart and lung issues, Don has been diagnosed with Stage IV cancer and he is now in home hospice care. We are blessed that he is in no pain and at this point he mostly sleeps. As Christians we are confident in God's plan for Don and we are just taking it one day at a time. He wanted me to tell all of you how much he has enjoyed entertaining you all of these years and hopes that he made some small difference in your life. Please continue to keeps us in your thoughts and prayers and we travel this journey. God Bless!"

Donny,

Thanks for the update on Don. We're praying for him!!

There are no strangers on Synthzone,just friends who have not yet met.This is how I considered Don.Best wishes to Don and his family.

Read it on Facebook. Not much to be said other than "We love you Don"

Susan and Don...Prayers for You both and full Healing You Don. You both are Wonderful Folks. Prayers for Strength and Comfort. Sincerely Harold

Thanks for the new update Donny.

I have always highly appreciated Don's presence here at SZ and other forums.
He has always been constructive, and has given me a lot of new knowledge, and not least, a nice collection of his music.
I have downloaded what he gave us the opportunity to do, and when we drive our motorhome, we enjoy his songs that I have stored on a USB stick.
Don knows this, and he also knows that I'm one of his biggest fans.
As the years have passed, a good friendship has developed between many here at SZ.
Don is one of those that I am proud to consider a good 'online' friend.
Wish Don and his family all the best!

GJ

Just seen Gary's post. Very sorry to read this.
My deepest condolences to his family and friends.

My dear friend, Don Mason, Passed away this morning. He was the kindest, most considerate person I ever met. He will be dearly missed by one and all on this and other forums.

Gary

My deepest condolences. I wish his family strength and consolation.

Don Mason was a one of a kind musician and human being. He was a master at his craft, a peer I was in awe of and a friend I loved. I am deeply saddened by this news and Nancy and I send his family our deepest condolences. The world will be dimmer and quieter without him.
I will miss him always to my dying day Rest In Peace 🙏

Hello, Gary and Donny, those are nice words and very fitting. Wanted to echo my feelings on here; Don gave a lot to this and other forums. Don was everything you guys said, as good a man as you would ever know. Always enjoyed being with Don and will surely miss him.

Bill

I'm so sorry to hear of Don's passing he was a great guy and like many have posted he was a wonderful influence of those of us who are not as talented as Don was. The last contact I had with Don was about a year ago when I purchased his TC Helicon Perform VK harmonizer. Rest in Peace Mr. Mason!

Gary. Thank you for the very sad update, Don will be remembered by all of us here and other keyboard forums.

Graham UK

How painful for everyone who knew him. He certainly brought the "human" into the term "humanity".




Russ

So very sorry to here about Don's passing. He was the good friend that a lot of us never met. That never stopped him from helping anyone that needed it . WE will all miss him dearly.
All my prayers
MEL

A good man has left us. RIP Don

What very sad news, but let us remember the beautiful musical legacy he left us all, and the friend he was to so many.

I am glad I made the trip to Shreveport to see Don in action and he was kind enough to invite both my wife and I to his stage to perform. I tried to copy his rig, and I got a Ketron Audya 5, but I soon realized that the magic that Don created on the keyboard had little to do with the brand or model. The man sounded amazing on any keyboard. He will always be my inspiration. My eyes tear up as I write this. R.I.P , mi amigo Don.

I´m so sorry to read this.
My deepest condolences to his family.

fozzie

My heart aches after hearing this sad news. Don was a true gentleman, helpful to all, and supportive of everyone in need of advice.

The world will definitely be a little more dismal without him.

Thoughts and prayers to Susan and the whole Don Mason family.
Mitch Irish

Words: I have read every post here and on face book, and I can not find words to express my feelings.
I will miss him. He was my cowboy, and my friend, and much more.

John C.

I could not have expressed my feelings any better than you did here Paul.....

John Smies
Holland

As the thoughts expressed by all, a job well done MR, MASON.
Ray

My sincere condolences to the family. Don was an expert on arranger keyboards and knew the operating systems of all the major brands. He used that knowledge here often to help everyone. But probably the best compliment I could give him is he was a professional who made a living doing what he loved. He will be missed.

May Don rest in peace and his family find solace in this very difficult time.

Don offered to buy a keyboard from me years ago (as he read I was extremely disappointed with my purchase). He didn't need it or want it, it was just his wonderful generosity.

So saddened to read this.

I am very saddened by this news.
Like others, I have enjoyed his Synthzone company for more than 20 years.
My heart goes out to his family.
He certainly will be missed.
Eric

Don will be missed by all of us for certain. There is no way to express the lose we all feel.

Always so helpful...he will be sorely missed..

I recently spent a pleasent time listening to Dons YouTube videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew0a9ZS5HA4

It’s been a long time since I’ve revisited this site…and the first notification was “Update on Don Mason”… not knowing anything my heart stopped and a anxiety kicked in..then as I read each page…sadness consumed me and instantly, all the brief posts and exchanges with Don resurfaced from a while back…I know Don just as much as the frequent names I see on this site, however, he has somewhat left a mark enough to break my heart to hear of his passing…RIP mr Mason and Condolences to his family and loved ones

Very saddened to read of Don's passing. My sincere condolences to Susan and The rest of Don's family. RIP Don.

Russ

R.I.P Don we will never forget you my prayers go out to your family. Cal.

Don was always one of the reasons I looked forward to logging in and reading this forum. A kind, generous soul, with a wealth of useful, practical advice and help for any lover of arranger keyboards, and a frequent poster of some great music, particularly country styles. He had a very deft touch with guitar emulation, and I often played his tunes listening for good licks and tricks, and am not ashamed to say I stole quite a few!

I know at this point we all feel great sadness, but I hope we also feel joy at a magnificent life lead, and a life lead playing music to the end. We should all be so lucky…

Bon voyage, Don. You are moving on, but you left so much behind that made our lives better, and that will last forever. Safe travels…

Thanks for the update Gary. Saddened to hear this. I login occasionally to this forum and one of the reasons is to hear from the experts here like Don. Saddened to hear this news. He was a great talent and he surely loved his craft a lot. His guitar emulations, licks and improvisation made it a special listen. Thanks Graham for sharing the link of his you tube channel... he was a great entertainer !! He was also kind to share to the forum, his expert views and advice which helped other musicians.

RIP Don. May his soul rest in eternal peace and may GOD give strength to his family.

I know many of you have said kind words on this forum but if possible would you please share your memories on the funeral home site so my children and family could view as well. Use link below.
Love to you all.
Susan Mason


https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituari...-RP4ejcbMc41N0g

I’ve just logged in for the first time in quite a while. So sad to read about Don. Condolences to Susan and family.
Hard to know what to say, only that you will be missed, loved listening to your songs , enjoyed the online chit chat. Always a thorough gentleman.

The news about Don Mason was a big surprise and a lot of pain for me.
I admire Don a lot. I have saved his songs and videos as soon as Don publish them and are my favorites. At times when I experimented frustrations with playing my arranger, I wished that in my younger years a had a teacher or even better, a grand father like him. I request help a couple of times from Don and he was quick to response with wise advise.
Is a big lost for all us.
I have colon cancer back in 1988 at 37. It required surgery to remove the tumor and around 6 inches of my intestine plus one year of chemotherapy. At six months into chemotherapy I suffer an intestinal obstruction and a month in ICU at the hospital. This intestinal obstruction was caused by scar tissue in the same place that I have the surgery to remove the tumor.

PLEASE, PLEASE: If you are over 40 years old, schedule a COLONOSCOPY at least once a year. Finding cancer tumors at early stage is crucial to survive !!!

My heart goes out to his family.