Aaron S. Mason, M.D., 88, died Saturday evening at Four Courts Senior Center in Louisville, Kentucky. Born in Russia, Dr. Mason moved to Chicago with his family when he was two. He spent his childhood in Chicago and graduated from University of Illinois Medical School, completing his studies as a psychiatrist. He began a distinguished career as director of Veterans Administration Hospitals in Lexington, Kentucky, Tomah, Wisconsin and North Chicago, Illinois. “One of Dad’s greatest strengths was as a problem solver. The Veterans Administration sent him wherever the need to reorganize a hospital was greatest,” said his son Kenneth. During World War II, Dr. Mason served in the U.S. Army at what is now the Veterans Administration Hospital in North Chicago. He continued to serve his country in the Army Reserves for many years, retiring at the rank of full colonel, declining a commission to the rank of general in order to be able to spend more time with his family. After his retirement from the VA, he worked for the Kentucky Department of Mental Health at Eastern State Hospital in Lexington. He was an adjunct professor of psychiatry at University of Kentucky Medical School and author of a medical school textbook on the clinical use of medication in mental illness. In the 1960’s, Dr. Mason was a founding board member of the Bluegrass Comprehensive Care Center, the first community mental health center in Kentucky and one of the first in America. “He always sought to find a place to contribute his talents and energies in the mental health care field, where he was so widely respected, ” said his son Hward. He is survived by his wife Jessie, residing at Four Courts, Louisville, KY; three sons, Howard Gary Mason, Louisville, Steven Jay Mason, Hartford, Connecticut and Kenneth Glen Mason, Wilmette, Illinois; and two grandchildren, Tracy and Jeffrey. Interment Shalom Memorial Park, Arlington Heights, Wednesday, January 24, at 11 a.m. For info. The Piser Chapel, 847-679-4740
