Richard 'Dick' Mann

Mann, Richard "Dick" Age 107, of St. Paul, MN. Passed away peacefully January 2, 2022 at Lilydale Senior Living. Dick was born on March 8, 1914 in St. Paul to Richard Madison Mann and Grace (Starks) Mann. Preceded in death by, parents; sisters, Laura Mae (Oliver), Helen (Galloway), Lucelia Jewell (Alexander), and Lucretia Pearl (Schofield); wives, Mildred (Gibson) and Ann (Seymour); stepsons Jerry Thomas, Jr., and Dunbar Gibson, Jr.; stepdaughter Sandra Bohanon (Gibson). Survived by sons Richard (Peggy), Stephan (Terrell), and daughter Margo; grandchildren Laura (Daren), Julia (Theo), Stephan E., and Anne; step-grandchildren, Kathleen, Linda, Dunbar III, and Dawn; and great-grandchildren, Amira, Zara, Zoey, Kyah, and Sloan. Also included are many nieces, nephews, and friends. Dick was an active member of the St. Phillips, now Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, serving as usher, junior warden, sexton, and repair volunteer. He was an entrepreneur having had partnerships in the jazz club Treasure Inn in the late 1940s, and later in the 1950s a 3.2 bar, Chatsworth Inn, on Rondo Ave. in St. Paul until the construction of I-94. He worked more than 30 years for the U.S. Postal Service, which included work as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Counselor. He retired in 1983. He was also an avid golfer until age 102. He was active in community organizations such as the 40 Club, Hallie Q. Brown, the Sterling Club, and TSTC. His children recall many family fishing trips, as well as picnics with their cousins. Depending on the COVID-19 protocol, a memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM on March 12, 2022 at St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church, 60 Kent Street, St. Paul, MN 55102. Please check the church's website stjohnsstpaul.org for the latest COVID-19 protocol a few days before the scheduled memorial service. The service will be livestreamed from the church's website. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the Page Education Foundation. The Page Education Foundation URL is: page-ed.org/donate/ Use this URL, or otherwise select the DONATE button on the home page. On the DONATE page at the line reading "Where would you like your donation to be designated?" select "In Memory of Someone" and then enter "Richard Mann." Otherwise, you can mail your check to: Page Education Foundation, PO Box 581254, Minneapolis, MN 55485.

Biographical Profile of Richard Morris Mann on the occasion of his Centennial Birthday.

Richard Morris Mann was born on March 8, 1914, in St. Paul, Minnesota.  He was the second child of Richard Matison Mann (1874-1924) and Grace Starks Mann (8/11/1886 – 8/23/1981), born in what was called the City and County Hospital (later Ancker Hospital) in St. Paul, MN.  His other siblings included an older sister Laura Mae, and younger sisters Helen and twins Pearl and Jewel.

Richard Mann was a citizen of the Twin Cities.  While he was born in St. Paul, his parents moved to Minneapolis and back to St. Paul on occasion.  While his parents lived in Minneapolis, he attended kindergarten and elementary school there through 6th grade. 

He attended Bryant Junior High School at 38th and 3rd Avenue for two years, then his family moved back to St. Paul.  While he was living in St. Paul, he joined the Boy Scouts Troop 55 at St. James AME Church, along with several other boys in the Rondo neighborhood. 

He attended Marshall Junior High School, then went to St. Paul Central High School.  His family then moved back to Minneapolis, where he enrolled in and graduated from Central High School in Minneapolis in 1935.

After high school, Mr. Mann wanted to attend the University of Minnesota, but was unable to afford the costs.  His father died when he was just 11-years-old, and his mother worked to support her five children as best as she could. 

He worked to support himself and to contribute the support of his siblings, doing whatever jobs he could obtain.  He found employment in his grandfather’s barbershop on Grand Avenue (near Macalester College) shining shoes, he worked as a car polisher, and as a porter in fashionable clothing store (Godnick and Fassbinder on Nicollet Avenue). 

He was able to negotiate with his employer that if he brought in Black customers, he would receive 5% commission on any sale that was made, in addition to his salary as a porter in the store.  He brought in such luminaries as Gordon Parks and Lester Young who made clothing purchases at the store.  This work experience also was instructive to him for learning how to dress well and tastefully, a trait he reflected for all occasions. 

Mr. Mann was also able to persuade his employer to advertise in the local Black newspaper (The Minneapolis Spokesman/St. Paul Recorder).

Mr. Mann later became a successful entrepreneur as co-owner of a very popular nightclub in 1947 located in Roseville, MN. The club, called Treasure Inn, was located outside of the Black community at Rice St. and Larpenteur. 

It became successful because it featured the best local hot music in the Twin Cities, including such local artists as the Percy Hughes Band and Prince Rogers, father of the celebrated entertainer Prince.  Treasure Inn also drew widely from the college crowd—U of M, Hamline, Macalester College and the University of St. Thomas.  The club closed in 1949. 

In 1950, in partnership with Ed Salter, they opened the Chatsworth Inn, a 3-2 beer tavern in the Rondo neighborhood.  The business initially did well with a steady stream of customers who worked at different facilities during the war years. 

As these plants closed down, fewer customers come to the tavern.  By this time, Mr. Mann had a growing family, and he needed a steady income to support them.  He made application at the Post Office and passed the test.  He sold his interest in the tavern business, and he concentrated his time and efforts at the Post Office.

Mr. Mann started working regularly for the Post Office in 1953 and held several positions there.  In 1970 and 1971, he was the EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity) Counselor for the Main Post Office in downtown St. Paul.  He retired from the Post Office in 1983 after 30 years of service.

Mr. Mann was active in community organizations.  In 1949 he became a member of the Sterling Club, a social, civic and charitable organization established in 1919 in St. Paul.  The Sterling Club works cooperatively with other organizations to provide beneficial activities and programs for the African-American community. 

The Club also provides leadership in the community.  Mr. Mann served as a past President of the Club. He was also a member of the Forty Club, as well as TSTC.

He was an Episcopalian and was a long-time member of the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, formerly known as St. Philip’s Episcopal Church of St. Paul.  For many years he served as the Junior Warden and as a volunteer Sexton.  It was in his 90’s that he passed that task on to younger men in the church.

Mr. Mann was married twice.  He had three children by his first wife, Ann Elizabeth Seymour: Richard John Mann (1945), Stephen Turner Mann (1948), and Margo Grace Mann (1950).  He also had a stepson, Adolph Jerry Thomas (deceased).  He was married to his second wife, Mildred for over 50 years.  In the later years of their marriage, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

He took loving care of her every day while she suffered with Alzheimer’s disease. She died in 2012 at age 92 at the Episcopal Home in St. Paul where she had been a resident during the final years of her life.

Mr. Mann continued to carry on solo in his home doing chores, driving, cooking, exercising, going to church, and golfing.  He is believed to be the oldest registered golfer in a St. Paul, MN golf league and had planned to keep playing for as long as he could. 

Only in the last three years in his home did he give up walking the golf course in favor of riding in the cart. He moved into the memory-care unit of Liliydale Senior Living in February of 2017, he was 102-years-old.

In honor of Mr. Mann’s 90th birthday, he and his family members established the Richard Morris Mann Scholarship to benefit graduating African-American high school seniors attending college. 

This scholarship was awarded to selected recipients annually at their graduation. The fund was transferred to the Page Education Foundation in 2017.

Mr. Richard Morris Mann was a delightful gentleman to be around. He was independent, shared his life perspectives willingly, and always greeted you with a smile. After a wonderful life of 107 years, he died peacefully during his afternoon nap at Lilydale Senior Living on Sunday, January 2, 2022.