EAST LANSING – Ron Mason wouldn’t have wanted his funeral to be a funeral. The former Michigan State hockey coach and athletic director would have demanded a celebration.
More than 1,000 family members, friends, former players, fans, colleagues and peers turned out to Munn Arena on Thursday to do just that.
They remembered Mason the fisherman. The competitor. The father. The humanitarian. The life of the party.
Most of all, they remembered the legacy of a pioneering college hockey coach who did things his way.
“Ron Mason has touched everyone here today in some form or fashion,” longtime MSU trainer Dave Carrier said of his friend and former boss.