Victor Masi

Obituary of Victor A. Masi, D.D.D., Col. Ret., USAF

Victor Anthony Masi was born on February 25, 1936 in Port Chester, New York and died on July 9, 2013 in Austin, Texas after enduring a three-year battle with Cholangiocarcinoma, a rare form of gastrointestinal cancer. He is survived by his wife, Mary Masi ; son, Donald Masi of San Antonio; son Chris (Barbara) Masi of Pflugerville; daughter, Sharon (Kris) Ward of San Antonio; grandson Brandon Masi of Pflugerville, granddaughters Meredith and Erica Masi of Pflugerville; grandsons Collin and Kyle Ward of San Antonio. He was preceded in death by his father, Angelo Masi and his mother Anna (Graziano) Masi, his sister Marilyn Ruggiero, and brother-in-law John Ruggiero.
Victor graduated from Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York in 1953 and earned a Bachelor’s of Science from Manhattan College in 1957. From there he attended Seton Hall College of Medicine and Dentistry in Jersey City, New Jersey earning a D.D.S. degree in 1961. He joined the United States Air Force in November of 1961 and his first assignment was for 15 months in Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada. He then was transferred to Niagara Falls where he served for five years as a general dental officer where he met and married his wife Mary in December of 1964. In 1967-1968 he received a Master’s of Dental Science degree from the University of Texas at Houston Dental Branch In 1968-1970 he completed his residency in Periodontics at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio. He was then transferred to Wright -Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio where he served two years as Asst. Chief of Periodontics. In 1972, he was transferred overseas to Wiesbaden AFB in Germany where he served for three years as the Chief of Periodontics. He also served as the President of the Military European Periodontal Society. The next stop for him was a 7 year tour at Barksdale AFB in Bossier City, Louisiana where he was the Director of the General Dentistry Residency. He then served two years at Clark AFB in the Phillipines , and then ended his military career at Carswell AFB in Fort Worth, Texas from 1984-1991.
After retiring from the Air Force in 1991, he taught for 15 years as an adjunct professor at the Texas Women’s University School of Dental Hygiene. He had a passion for teaching, whether it was dental hygienists or the dental/periodontal residents. He also loved gardening, refereeing sports, collecting coins and stamps, playing golf, and most of all spending time with his beloved five grandchildren.
The funeral mass is on July 13, 2013 at 10 A.M. at St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church in Pflugerville, Texas, with Father Paul Hudson presiding. The burial is at St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery in Pflugerville, Texas. Memorials may be made to M.D. Anderson Cancer Treatment Center in Houston, Texas.