Pastor, teacher served Isles more than 30 years
Society of Mary Father Lawrence Mann, who served several assignments as a parish priest and teacher on Oahu totaling more than three decades, died Sept. 1 in Cupertino, California, at age 100. He was a Marianist for 83 years and a priest for 71 years.
Over the course of his long ministry, Father Mann served the Society of Mary, also known as the Marianists, and the church as a high school teacher, pastor and campus minister. He was beloved as a mentor and counselor and will be remembered for his intellect and good humor.
Lawrence Anthony Mann was born on Aug. 1, 1916, in Cleveland, one of five children of Andrew and Emma (Barteline) Mann. He entered the Marianist postulate at Mount Saint John in Dayton, Ohio, in 1930. He was joined by his older brother Leonard and the two professed first vows together on Aug. 15, 1933.
He entered the seminary at St. Meinrad in Indiana during World War II and was ordained there on Aug. 26, 1945.
In 1946, Father Mann was sent to Honolulu to teach at Saint Louis College (now Saint Louis School). During this time, he ministered briefly at the Hansen’s disease settlement in Kalaupapa, Molokai, an experience he later called “a grace never forgotten.”
After three years in Hawaii, Father Mann returned to New York to earn a master’s degree in philosophy, returning in 1951 to Saint Louis College for two years.
He then taught in California, returning to Hawaii in 1958 as assistant pastor at Holy Family Parish near Pearl Harbor. He remained there until 1962, when he began a one-year stint as an adjunct professor of philosophy at Chaminade College in Honolulu.
He spent two years more in California at the Carmel Mission Basilica before again returning to Hawaii and Holy Family Parish to work for 25 years, from 1964 to 1988, as an associate pastor and pastor. He was a popular figure in the parish, well-loved for his homilies and for his leadership in retiring the parish’s debt. Marianist brothers who lived with him during this time recall evening gatherings on the back steps overlooking Palolo Valley, where Father Mann taught them about the stars sprawled across the Hawaiian sky.
In late 1988, at age 72, he was welcomed back to California and to Chaminade High School as chaplain, celebrating Masses and leading retreats. Marianist Brother Francis “Skip” Matthews lived and worked with Father Mann during this time.
“Larry was never in a hurry — he would always make time for a young person who needed him,” said Brother Francis. “I know of at least three times when he was able to walk a student through a very difficult life situation.”
Father Mann occasionally would return to Holy Family Parish during the summer to visit former parishioners.
In 2004, Father Mann moved to the Cupertino Marianist Community, where he was an active, engaged member of the community.
In a reflection for his 70th jubilee, Father Mann wrote: “I rejoice with the brothers in the wonder of being alive in our marvelous world. My ‘widow’s mite’ of service is my gift to a compassionate God. God does write straight with crooked lines. Gratias!”
