Funeral for Chip Mason
Cathedral of Mary Our Queen
September 11, 2025
Perennially Valid Lessons
We’ve come together this morning to celebrate the life of Chip Mason and to commend him to the Lord of life and love. We are gathered in the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, his parish church, to offer the most perfect prayer, the Mass, in which Christ himself pleads for us before his heavenly Father. Let us enter into this celebration in a spirit of praise and thanksgiving and with greatest confidence that Chip’s overarching goal, eternal life with the God who is love, has been accomplished.
Much was written about Chip in his lifetime and since his death, and those of us who have gathered in prayerful remembrance knew him well as a husband, a father, a business leader, a colleague, and community leader. As we reflect on what he stood for and what he accomplished in his lifetime, some may be tempted to think he was just right for the times in which he lived, but that the lessons of his life no longer apply in the very different world we find ourselves in – I beg to differ. Chip’s life transcends the times he lived in. What we celebrate in his life has a timeless quality about it, and I might add, needs to be emphasized now more than ever. To put it another way, Chip will be missed but never forgotten. What, then, are the lessons, the values, he continues to exemplify for us?
Love of Family
Surely a first lesson is Chip’s love for you, his family. To you, Rand, and to you, his daughters, Paige, Pamela, and Morgan, and to you, his sons, Carter, Hayward, and Pike and to your spouses – we offer our heartfelt sympathy and solidarity in this moment of loss. Busy as he was building a global investment business, Chip was a consummate husband, father, and grandfather. No doubt you have many memories of Sunday night dinners in which your father pioneered innovative recipes, culinary adventures which inspired three you to start a pizza kitchen, bistro, & Mexican restaurant. No doubt you often reflect on the advice he offered you in his later years. Being a father and a grandfather was Chip’s never ending job. During these days, I am sure you have shared among yourselves many cherished memories, many stories, and much family lore. In an era when families spend too little time together, Chip’s love for you, his family, stands as an enduring testament.
Integrity and Hard Work
A second hallmark of Chip’s life was integrity, fair play, and hard work. He famously said to colleagues, “Not only do I not want you crossing the line, I do not want to see chalk on your shoes.” Because he didn’t cut ethical corners and did the right thing for the right reason, Chip was highly respected among colleagues and competitors alike. He also worked harder than almost anyone else. Stories abound of Chip’s working late into the night, crunching numbers, making sure he thoroughly understood them. That is how he built his business from the ground up, making Legg Mason a premier global investment firm. No wonder Loyola University of Maryland recognized him as Business Leader of the Year in 1999 . . . So, in a time when many people doubt that integrity and hard work pay off, Chip’s example of ethics and hard work serves, not only as a corrective, but also as encouragement never to give up, never to throw in the towel.
Generous Leadership in the Wider Community
A consummate family man, a person of integrity, a successful business leader, he was bound to be tapped for leadership in the wider community. For Chip’s love and concern extended beyond himself and his family. Chip was grateful to his alma mater, William and Mary, and its School of Business is rightly named for him. He served as Chair of the Board of Johns Hopkins, was instrumental in keeping the Orioles in town (and from his place in eternity maybe he can help us do a little better next year). He led the Greater Baltimore Committee and United Way of Central Maryland. No one could doubt how deeply he loved Baltimore.
His love extended to those who are less fortunate. Examples abound but let me speak of something near and dear to my heart. In 1995, working closely with Cardinal Keeler, he co-founded Partners in Excellence, a scholarship program for young people from underserved neighborhoods who want to attend a Catholic school. Chip saw that these schools are high performing, and that they offer faith, character formation, and opportunity. He helped set in motion a program that, over the years, has generated more than $45 million in scholarship assistance and we’re still counting. His love and concern continue to help many deserving young people to excel. Chip’s example of giving back is a perennially valid lesson for everyone, not just for those of great wealth but for every one of us!
Faith Undergirds Everything
Such a good man is not merely the result of happenstance. There is one other quality about Chip that undergirds the rest, namely, his love for the Lord and his devout Catholic faith. This was Chip’s hidden source of his love, integrity, leadership and generosity. Chip understood by faith that the ultimate definition of success is to attain eternal friendship with God. A man who never forgot those who helped him succeed in life was not about to forget or neglect the One who gave him life and the One who laid down his life for his eternal salvation. That is why he made it a point of coming to Mass on Sunday in this Cathedral. Chip didn’t wear his religion on his sleeve but it permeated his life. The Lord was his shepherd, in good times and in bad. His life’s project was to grow in union with the Lord into whose life, death, and resurrection he had been baptized. He believed that those who died with Christ will live with Christ, eternally. That is what brought him to Mass on Sunday and that is what brings us together at Mass this morning.
Of course, it is not my place to canonize Chip – that would be up to Pope Leo! But I can tell you this: Chip, who never took earthly success for granted would not want us to take his eternal salvation for granted. Rather, he would want us to celebrate with grateful hearts the beauty of his life, and to pray confidently that he is with the Lord and all the saints for all eternity.