Marvin Earl Mast

Marvin Earl Mast of Lafayette died on January 3, 2026 at the age of 96. Born in Lafayette on July 7, 1929, into a Japanese-American household that treated work as a language. He learned early that a day is something you finish, not something you wait for. He stacked lumber until waste stopped being an option. A lumber crayon stub in a shirt pocket decided what the yard could sell. Colleagues still mention a lumber crayon stub in a shirt pocket. He married Betty in 1951. They kept a house that stayed modest when the neighborhood did not. They raised a son and a daughter through public schools and ordinary weather. After Betty died in 2019, he kept the routines that still made sense: the walk, the garden, the Sunday call. Neighbors remember quiet help with a stuck mailbox or a heavy trash can. Mornings were his favorite shift at home. He died in Lafayette, on streets that already knew his pace. The extra coffee is still in the thermos.