Obituary of Leo Mast

Everett Leo Mast, age 84, of William Hardy Mast Road, Sugar Grove, NC, passed away Sunday evening, July 15, 2012. He was born February 8, 1928, in Sugar Grove, the third of five children, to the late Dora Shell and Vardry B. Mast. Leo is survived by his wife, Anne Burgess, and his daughter Barbara James and husband Scott of Rock Hill, SC, daughter Lara Mast of Phoenix, AZ, and former son-in-law Frederic Milot of East Point, GA. He is also survived by his brother Ben Mast and wife Ingrid of Washington, D.C., three grandchildren, Lauren, Michael, and William James, and by his former wife, Shirley Swift Mast, and a host of other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his brothers Harold and John and his sister Dorothy Mast Harrigan. Raised in Sugar Grove, Leo fell in love with jazz and took up the clarinet in the 7th grade, later becoming a member of the Cove Creek High School band. He played the clarinet for the rest of his life. In 1946 he became a paratrooper in the U.S. Army's 11th Airborne Division and served in Hokkaido in northern occupied Japan. He graduated from Appalachian State Teachers College in 1951, and from Duke University Law School in 1954, where he was a member of Phi Alpha Delta fraternity. He briefly taught in the NC and Florida public schools, then was an attorney with the Florida Securities Commission in Miami, and later with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. Many years with the SEC in Atlanta, GA followed, where he was involved with regulation, discovery and enforcement. In Atlanta he was also active in his church and the community theater. In the 1990s Leo moved back to Sugar Grove and became involved in civic affairs, environmental protection, and historic preservation. He helped form the Cove Creek Community Council, Cove Creek Preservation & Development, and worked with others to preserve the architecturally acclaimed Cove Creek High School building, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Leo was honored in 2011 as one of the first inductees in the Watauga County Democratic Party's Hall of Fame. As public servant, teacher, community leader, musician, husband, father, and grandfather, Leo will always be remembered for his devotion, humanity and love of life. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 28, at 11:00 a.m. at St. John�s Episcopal Church, 678 Herb Thomas Road, in Valle Crucis (off Mast Gap Rd.), followed by a reception at the old Cove Creek High School building, 207 Dale Adams Road, in Sugar Grove, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Parking at the school and carpooling to the church is encouraged. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to one of the following: High Country Hospice, 136 Furman Dr., Suite 4, Boone, NC 28607; Holy Cross Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 645, Valle Crucis, NC 28691; Cove Creek Preservation & Development, P.O. Box 344, Sugar Grove, NC 28679; or The Community Care Clinic, 141 Health Center Dr., Suite B, Boone, NC 28607. Online condolences may be sent to the family at the website www.austinandbarnesfuneralhome.com. Austin & Barnes Funeral Home & Crematory is serving the Mast family.