William "Bill" F. Mast

William Frederick Mast Jr. (Bill), born May 10, 1933, grew up in the German speaking neighborhood of Mount Washington, an eastern suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. He was the only child of German immigrant parents, Wilhelm Friedrich Mast (1907-1963), and Hertha (Blazek) Mast (1910-1991), who met in naturalization classes in Cincinnati. His father Wilhelm worked as a mechanic at Yellow Cab downtown. His mother, as was customary, raised her son and took care of the house.

William's life closely followed the script of the American Dream. He was pitcher for his high school team at Anderson, which eventuated a meeting with New Richmond High School cheerleader Amy H. Corwin (Mast). They were soon married and began a family that eventually included William F. Mast III (deceased), Larry D. Mast (deceased), Kathryn S. (Mast) Kopp, Steven J. Mast (spouse Karen), Kimberly A (Mast) Hall, and Theresa L (Mast) Courtey.

William began his lifelong career at Metcut Research, a world-renowned metal testing facility, when he was hired by one of the founders who noticed him working at a gas station that the owner frequented. Starting off sweeping floors in the machine shop, Bill soon was trained as a machinist, and eventually rose through the machine shop, earning honorary degrees as a metallurgical engineer, and ultimately attaining the position of Vice President of Manufacturing, overseeing the very machine shop he had started in.

A devoted father Bill worked hard as an engineer, but even harder building a life for his family. After a few rentals, William, and his wife Amy, with the help of Amy's father Harry Corwin, built the first family home on Marbe Lane in Batavia, Ohio. Shortly after, in need of more space for the growing family, they moved into a historic home, formerly owned by the town doctor, in downtown Batavia. Evenings and weekends were spent improving and maintaining the property, and served as a foundation for William to teach life skills to every one of his children. Chores and projects were usually family affairs, and all of the kids learned about the realities of day to day life, and the responsibilities involved. He did also however, instill into each child a healthy sense of adventure and fun, never failing to arrange a family vacation at least every summer. Early trips were done in an old Dodge Dart and a cabin tent in the trunk, moving up to a family station wagon and pop-up trailer, eventually easing into a secondhand motorhome that invariably broke down on almost every trip. Mechanical skills, and an open-minded sense of adventure and fun assured a safe trip regardless, and in the meantime the kids were exposed to just about every corner of the country and taught the value of self- sufficiency and adaptability.

As years went by, William and Amy eventually moved back to Mount Washington, to the neighborhood where Bill grew up, and ultimately built a home for their retirement. He then retired after 45 years at Metcut Research and spent the last years of his life enjoying his family. He valiantly took care of Amy through her end-of-life struggles, keeping her safe and at home throughout.

William passed peacefully at home, surrounded by family, after his own end of life journey. His hard work, frugality, planning, and foresight enabled him to be home for his last days as well. His job was always the focus of his life whether as a machinist, engineer, manager, husband, adventure guide, or father. And for each role, it must be said, "Job well done."

William is survived by his four remaining children, Kathy, Steven, Kim and Theresa, his eldest son William III's wife Sue and their children Ryan (spouse Samantha) and Sandy (spouse Dustin), Larry's children Brandon (spouse Isabel), Kyle (spouse Tachele), Nichole and Amanda, Kathy's children Camilla and Angela, Kim's children Brennan and Kenzie (spouse Tyler), and Theresa's children Cassie (spouse Rick) and Stephane (spouse Sam), along with seventeen great grandkids (and one more on the way!).

Memorial Visitation will be held Saturday, October 19, 2024, from 10am-11am at Our Lord Christ the King Church, 3223 Linwood Ave, Cincinnati, OH, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11am.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in his honor may be made to Hospice of Cincinnati.