Delores J. Mason

Delores J. (Lopes) Mason, a Lab retiree, died Jan. 30. She was 66.

Born Aug. 20, 1942, in Oakland, she graduated from Castro Valley High School in 1960 and received a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from California State University East Bay (then Hayward) in 1975.

During the 1960s and 70s, she worked for various local companies, beginning her career at the Alameda Naval Air Station. In the late 1970s, she joined LLNL as a secretary in the Lasers Program. She transferred to the Technical Information Department, first as a compositor and then as a technical editor matrixed to the Livermore Computing Center.

Mason retired from the Lab to pursue her dream of living in Mexico. She loved to travel and throughout her life found ways to visit other cultures, even for a time working as a courier.

She had many interests. She danced and was particularly fond of salsa. She enjoyed going to movies and musicals, art museums and bookstores, boutiques and open homes. She loved to decorate and moved frequently to have a new “canvas” of blank walls. At the end of her life, she had homes in Oakland and in San Antonio Tlayacapan, between Ajijic and Lake Chapala in Mexico.

She is survived by her brother, Don Lopes, of Springfield, Va., and two nephews, Elliott of Nashville, Tenn., and Adam also of Springfield.

In honor of her deep affection for animals, her family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Attention: Linda Tiramani, 520 8th Ave, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10018).