Mike Mason

My name is Mike Mason.  Roy Bird was my best friend in high school.  Roy and I were managers of the football and basketball teams together.  We spent a lot of time together working with the athletes, and I  will always remember staying late at night after the ball games putting together all the statistics for the games.  Boy we could have used a computer back in those days.  Roy and I and Glenn and my brother Owen used to play a lot of basketball on the weekends.  We would get access to one of the church gyms or sneak into the high school gym with the keys that Roy and I were given.  I think Roy and I might have been better players than some of the players that made the team.

Roy was the smartest person I have ever met, but he didn’t act like a lot of smart people.  There was no arrogance.  He didn’t flaunt his genius.  He was just a regular guy and a great friend.  He and I pretty much took the same classes, some of them the most difficult available.  Roy breezed through them, but I often struggled.  Roy was always kind enough to help me get ready for an upcoming test.  He and I and Bruce Cook, another good friend would frequently meet to work together on homework.  Bruce was also very smart.  Those two really carried me.  I have never forgotten that.

So we all graduated and went our separate ways.  I wish I had done a better job of keeping in touch.  Several years ago I did contact Roy through Classmates.com.  Roy was at an internet café’ in Poland when he wrote me his email.  We exchanged emails periodically over the next few years, but never were able to meet again.  I am sad about that.

No surprise to me that Roy achieved so much in such a relatively short period of time.  He was always a giver and sounds like that’s how he lived his life.  My condolences to his family.  I’m sure he will be deeply missed.

Mike Mason

Springville High ‘1995