Brother Felix Victoris Masson, FSC, a native of California who spent over sixty years in Lasallian education in the Philippines, has died in Napa at the age of 88.

Born in San Leandro, California, in 1919, Philip Joseph Masson received the habit of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in 1937.

In 1938 he responded to an appeal for volunteers to serve in the mission territory of the Philippine Islands and was assigned to teach in the Grade School at De La Salle University in Manila.

Thus began his commitment to the Filipino people. Except for about eight years, he spent his entire life as a Brother and an educator in service to his students in the Philippines. When the Japanese army occupied the Philippines during the Second World War, he was placed in an internment camp in Baguio, where he received his final vows on April 23, 1944.

After the war, Brother Felix returned to California to finish his undergraduate education at Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga and to work as a prefect and teacher at Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento.

Returning to the Philippines in 1948, Brother Felix went on to serve as a teacher and counselor in various grade schools and high schools, and became the principal of four different elementary and high schools. His last position was “Campus Animator” at the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod.

"I liked the Philippines," Brother Felix recounted in an interview late last year. “I got along well with the people.” Truly beloved by his students and his Brothers, Brother Felix in his eighties was forced by health problems to return to California for treatment. He joined the Holy Family Community at Mont La Salle in Napa. The squamous cell cancer from which he suffered was treated with radiation therapy and somewhat arrested, but it finally caused his death at Mont La Salle on February 5, 2008.

Funeral services are on Friday, February 8, 2008, in the Mont La Salle Chapel. Viewing is at 9:00 a.m., followed by the funeral liturgy at 10:00 a.m. and burial in the Mont La Salle cemetery. There will be a luncheon available in the Conference Center Dining Room.

In lieu of flowers please make donations to the Lasallian Education Fund, De La Salle Institute, 4401 Redwood Road, Napa, CA 94558.

Notes and testimonials may be sent to District Archives at Mont La Salle, 4401 Redwood Road, Napa, CA 94558.