Ardis Mason

Ardis Mason, age 87, of Baxter passed away on November 24, 2016, at Northern Lakes Senior Living. A memorial service will be Friday, December 16, at 11 AM, at Park United Methodist Church in Brainerd. Friends and family may visit during the hour before the service. Private interment will be at a later date, at Minnesota State Veteran’s Cemetery.

Ardis was born August 21, 1929 in Preston, Minnesota, to George and Beth (Duxbury) Ruddick. She grew up in Harmony. After finishing high school she moved to Minneapolis and completed Beauty College. She then moved to Los Angeles for a few years and returned to Rochester where she met her husband Les of 61 years and lived until 1989. They were married January 15, 1955 at the Little Brown Church in Nashwua, Iowa. Ardis and Les moved to Baxter in 1989, following Les’s retirement.

Ardis was an exceptional and conscientious homemaker and mother to three sons. She and her family vacationed often with the Holiday Rambler Travel Trailer Club, camping and making lifelong friends especially during their winter retreats in Sun City,Arizona during retirement years. Socializing and getting to know people was a favorite pastime of Ardis’s, she had a long career as an Avon representative in Rochester and she appreciated unlimited minutes on her cell phone in later years keeping in touch with family and friends. She was an inaugural member of Light of the Lakes Church, and later was active at Park United Methodist Church.

Ardis is survived by her husband, Les; three sons, Robert (Jane) Mason, of East Gull Lake, Michael (Martha) Mason, of Mound, and James Mason and special friend Vicki Nelson of Rushford; eleven grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; a sister, Ruth; and two brothers, Bryce and Myron (Bud). In lieu of flowers memorials are preferred to Park United Methodist Church in Brainerd, MN. Arrangements entrusted to Brenny Funeral Chapel and Cremation Service of Baxter.