Blue Hill
Cherie Lee Mason was born in Milwaukee, Wis., on Feb. 21, 1927, to a powerhouse of a single mother, Ann Wernitznig Lee. She was educated in Milwaukee and spent her first year of college at Marquette University, transferring on a full scholarship in her second year to Northwestern University, where she majored in speech and journalism.
Her longing was to go into theater, but full-time work during college as a family’s live-in cook and nanny caused her to be unable to participate in university productions. She had been doing voice and radio work in school, so when she learned of an opening at a 250-watt radio station for $32.50/week in the town of Lewiston, Mont., in the heart of the Judith Mountains, she got on the bus. By the time she left Montana, she had five shows on air, and in her spare time sold ads, considerably increasing sales for the station. Her next job offer was from a small advertising firm in Detroit, where she wrote copy for radio commercials and learned every detail of the advertising business, moving from there to a larger firm in Chicago, and then to the Chicago office of the international McCann-Erickson agency. She became the first female vice president of McCann-Erickson, and then its co-creative director.
It was in the advertising world that she met her greatest loves, Kenneth Mason, who would become her husband, and his daughter Shelley. Ken went to work for the Quaker Oats Co. and soon became the first non-family president and CEO for the company. Cherie was on the General Mills account at McCann-Erickson at the time, and the conflict of interest caused her to step down.
She turned the spotlight of her attention on furthering her acting career. The agents all knew her from her work in advertising and she quickly got work doing voiceovers for commercials and animated work, receiving both her SAG and AFTRA union cards. She loved doing animals and funny voices and always saw herself as a comedian. Indeed, even in the most serious role, Cherie could subtly, suddenly, cause a welcome burst of audience laughter. But with her formidable energy she couldn’t just do one thing and with a growing concern for the environment, she turned her performance and presentation skills to the Washington, D.C.-based Defenders of Wildlife.
When Ken took an early retirement to finish a book he was working on, they moved to Pine Island, a remote outpost in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota. That house sadly burned to the ground with all of their possessions in it, and after a few years of searching, they settled on Deer Isle in 1982, where they lived for the next 35 years. Cherie continued her environmental work in Maine. She sat on the boards of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for five years, and on the Maine chapter of The Nature Conservancy. It was she who initiated, with the support of the Sierra Club, the successful efforts to establish the Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge in Wells, winning a $900,000 federal grant to preserve the wetland. On Deer Isle she was a co-founder of Island Heritage Trust, worked on the Conservation Commission, and for 14 years had a regular radio show on WERU, first called “The Environmental Notebook,” and later “The Wildlife Journal.”
Between times she wrote two revered books for young people: the award-winning “Wild Fox” and “Everybody’s Somebody’s Lunch,” and recorded an audio version of Wild Fox. She became spokesperson for the Marine Environmental Research Institute (MERI) and toured the state giving lectures on Rachel Carson. Cherie’s environmental work was honored in 1993 with the Tambrands Environmental Women of Action award in Washington, D.C., and in 1999 Unity College presented Cherie Lee Mason an honorary doctorate of humane letters.
At age 84 Cherie added more letters to her name. Along with SAG, AFTRA and Ph.D. now came AEA, Actors Equity Association, membership. She performed with the greatest joy in 27 community and professional productions with Opera House Arts at the Stonington Opera House, and also served on the board. Her final public performance at age 93 was in Threadbare Theater’s production of “The Royal Tar” at Burnt Cove Community Church.
Cherie spent her last three and a half years at Parker Ridge, with streams of visitors and a team of remarkable caregivers. She was predeceased in 2019 by her husband, Ken, and died on July 4, Independence Day, with Shelley by her side. She is survived by scores for whom she was beloved, a teacher, mentor, surrogate grandmother, chef and friend. She wrote that she wished her epitaph to be: She always brought laughter into the room.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the International Fund for Animal Welfare, 290 Summers Street, Yarmouth Port, MA 02675, or by calling 800-932-4329.