BY LYDIA GRIMES

 

Those who have lived in Brewton for a long while will know the name of Truby Mason.

Mason has lived in Brewton since 1956, coming with her husband, Angus Mason, after his military career ended.

She was born Nov. 3, 1920, in Haleyville, in Winston County, the third daughter of four girls. Like most youngsters of the time, she played outside.

“We played in the trees in the woods across the road from our home,” she said. “Mama did her laundry there by the stream, and we played in the water, too. We played in the loft of our barn and at night, caught lightening bugs in jars.”

Their needs were few and it didn’t take much to make them happy. They had chores and tasks to do, but everyone did.

“I milked the cow and washed the dishes for my sister to do my book report. We were a happy family and we always went to church,” she said. “When we were kids, we would wait for Daddy to come home from work, hoping he had brought us some chewing gum.”

The girls attended a small school and not long after they started to school, she was moved up a grade, putting her into the same class as her sister, Eunice.

“I don’t know why they moved me up,” Mason said. “It could have been something as simple as not having enough chairs, so they moved me to where there was.”

All the girls were  bright and made good. Eunice was the valedictorian of her class and Truby was the salutatorian. How proud their parents must have been.

Truby and Angus Mason were married Oct. 6, 1940 in the living room of her parent’s home. They have two daughters, Phebe Lee (widowed) of Mobile and Linda (Dick) McEwan of Brewton. There is one grandson, Phillip, of Texas, and they now have step-grands, great-grands and great-great-grands.

The Masons moved around a great deal, with his job and then as he was assigned in the U.S. Navy. In 1960, he joined in a partnership with Watson-English Hardware retiring in 1981. She worked for Hines Realty Co. for many years.

Things have changed a lot in all these years. Mason has lived through some really rough times, including WWII, the Great Depression and the death of her husband.

“During the depression our family was blessed by the fact that Daddy worked for the  U.S. Post Office,” she said. “Because he worked with the government, he never lost his job. Mama had a garden, a cow, chickens and she made our clothes. I don’t remember us lacking for anything.

“Life has been good to me and I can’t think of anything to complain about,” she added. “The biggest changes I have seen were in my health and physical ability. Technology and inventions have changed how we all live.”