The love story of Denise and Larry Mason spans decades and crosses the country, beginning in New York City in 1959, when they first met and fell in love. At the time, Larry held a Fine Arts Degree from the University of Utah and a Masters in Architecture from Columbia University. He spent the summer they met working for a big architecture firm, and would go on to become a renowned hospital architect, helping to design and shape facilities like the Yale University Health Services Building, North Central Bronx Hospital, Montefiore Medical Center, and Mount Sinai Hospital.
Denise, was a gifted ballet dancer, who had graduated from the Royal Academy of Dance in British Columbia, and would go on to dance on the Ed Sullivan Show, Roger and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song on Broadway, and the World’s Fair in 1964. Outside of Dance, Denise was a successful real estate investor and interior designer, specializing in hospital and healthcare interior design. After three decades of living together in NYC, escaping from time to time to travel the world, they moved to Washington State in 1990 to slow life down.
After settling on tranquil Whidbey Island, Larry continued to share his view of the world through his artistic renderings. A signature member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, he balanced the painter’s brush with the architect’s pencil, creating beautiful works that were displayed in galleries and exhibitions across North America.
After Denise was diagnosed with lymphoma and ultimately passed away in 2003, Larry began to gift exclusive works to the Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF) to auction off at events to raise money to support its mission. In 2017, Larry cemented a lasting imprint in the lives of those in the lymphoma community by naming the Foundation as a beneficiary to his estate. In honor of their life and their legacy the Foundation created the Denise and Larry Mason Society.
If you have any questions about supporting the Lymphoma Research Foundation through through the Denise and Larry Mason Society, please contact our Development Team, at development@lymphoma.org. All inquiries are confidential.