Amber Kay Mason

Amber Kay Mason, 79, died on November 1, 2026, in Topeka, Kansas, peacefully at home with her sister by her side. She was born on October 30, 1947, in Deer River, Minnesota, and lived the kind of life that leaves behind both warm stories and the strong suspicion that any gathering was automatically better the moment she walked in.

Amber graduated from Hutchison High School in 1967. She married Jack W. Mason on May 27, 1967 and became a stay at home wife and mother, welcoming her first child in 1968 and their second in 1969. Later in life earned her CNA license, beginning a caregiving career that fit her loving nature well. She was very family oriented, a fun lady to be around, and someone who genuinely enjoyed family reunions back in Deer River, Minnesota. If there was a table to gather around, a story to tell, or a reason to celebrate, Amber was already halfway there.

She loved books and collected them with the enthusiasm of someone who understood that one can never have too many stories close at hand. She enjoyed researching genealogy, which meant family history was never just a subject to her; it was practically a calling. She also loved crafting and was an amazing seamstress. In fact, she made almost all of her sister’s clothes for junior high, which is both an act of love and a level of skill that deserves its own round of applause. Amber also enjoyed spending time with her family and throwing a good party, a combination that ensured the people she loved were rarely bored and often well-fed in spirit, if not always in snacks.

Among her proudest accomplishments was seeing her daughter graduate college, a joy she carried with great pride. Her love showed up not only in milestones, but in everyday devotion. She was a mother figure for her sister Karen, and through Amber’s love and compassion, Karen learned what a family could really be. That may be one of the clearest ways to understand Amber: she did not just belong to a family, she helped create the feeling of one.

Her family also carries treasured memories that sound exactly like Amber. Her grandson Mason fondly remembered the time he was dressed in a tuxedo and brought to the casino with Amber and Jack. At just four years old that night, he was, the “Bell of the Ball.” It is the kind of memory that says everything at once: Amber liked fun, loved her people, and understood that sometimes the best family stories begin with a small child in formalwear where no one expects one.

Amber is survived by her daughter, Jodi Cedarquist, and Jodi’s husband, Brad; her son, Jack E. Mason, and Jack’s wife, Kim; her grandchildren, Mason Cedarquist and his wife, Mara, Joseph Cedarquist, and Haley Mason; great grandson, Draveon Mason; her sister, Karen Walker; her friends, Jan Barger and Juanita Wilson and her husband, Roger; and her grand niece Amanda Wilund and grand nephew Troy Shull. She leaves behind a family and circle of friends who knew her as loving, lively, and deeply devoted, and who will continue telling her stories the way good families do: often, fondly, and with laughter sneaking in right beside the tears.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Jack W. Mason; her mother, Norma Smith; her father, Wetherell; her aunt, Jessie Smith; and many friends and family members who surely welcomed her with open arms.

Amber will be remembered for her kindness, her humor, her fierce love of family, her talent with a needle and thread, her shelves of books, her good parties, and her gift for making people feel they belonged. Hers was a life that stitched people together, one act of care, one celebration, and one unforgettable story at a time.