Beloved husband, father, and grandfather Lawrence Mann passed peacefully from this life on Tuesday, September 10 at his home in San Antonio, rodeado and embraced by the loving and adoring circle of his wife, children, and grandchildren.
Lawrence Mann
He is survived by his wife of 28 years, Catherine Ringwood Mann, daughters Elizabeth Mann Todd (Louis) of Lake Charles, LA.; Laurie Mann Beck (Fred) of Smithville; Patricia Louise Mann of San Antonio; Medora Enloe Mann Barkley (John) of Austin; Kathryn (Cati) Kerr Mann Kahn (Greg) of Laredo; Adriana Salinas Cune (Nick) of Houston; and sons Samuel Edward Mann III of Florida; and Carlos G. Salinas (Rachel Moyle) of Austin.
Lawrence is also survived by his grandchildren Kerri Owens, Kristen Todd Livergood, Louis Mann Todd Jr., Isabelle Gauthier, Ashley Sheffield, Ondrea Bluestone, Patra Bluestone, Jacqueline Mann McCullick, Andy Shults, Eleanor Covington Barkley, Katelyn Kahn, Conner Kahn, Mateo Salinas, Diego Salinas, Dylan Cune, and Catherine Cune; and great-grandchildren Caleb Livergood, Mackenzie Kingrey, Londyn Livergood, Olivia Owens, Lily Todd, Kyle Ritchie, Jemma Sheffield, Miles McCullick, Beckem Edwards, and Lennon Shults. He is also survived by his sister, Nancy Mann Chamberlain (Johnny.)
Lawrence was predeceased by his parents Elvella Dinn Mann and Samuel Edward “Ed” Mann II; sisters Virginia Mae Mann Baker and Elvella “Sisi” Mann Paul; and brother John E. Mann.
Lawrence Mann was born July 16, 1938 and grew up at the Mann home on Chihuahua Street in Laredo.
Elvella and Ed Mann on Chihuahua Street
Many of his childhood days were spent on the the Dinn Ranch near Bruni, the home of his maternal grandparents Elva Lee Holmes Dinn and John (J.T.) Dinn. As he grew older, Lawrence spent summers there working cattle with his grandfather and uncles. The work and the landscape of the brush lands instilled in him the lifetime sensibilities of a conservationist and a curiosity about the natural world.
Elvella Dinn, 1931, Dinn Ranch.
Lawrence and sisters, Virginia Mae and Sisi, at the Dinn Ranch homestead with their grandparents, Elva Lee Holmes Dinn and J.T. Dinn. Lawrence sits on J.T.’s knee.
Lawrence at the Dinn Ranch
Rough riding at the Dinn Ranch
A three-year letterman in football at Martin High School, he graduated in 1956, continuing his education at the University of Texas and graduating under Plan II. He was a 1962 graduate of the University of Texas School Law.
Lawrence Mann, 1962
Lawrence returned to Laredo in 1962 to practice law with his father, Ed, in the firm’s office in the Mayo Building on Washington Street. The attorneys in the firm at that time included Lawrence’s brother John Mann and Argentina Cronfel.
When John left the firm, its name became Mann, Cronfel, & Mann. It would become Mann, Cronfel, & Person when George Person joined the practice in 1969.
George Person left to establish his own firm, and in 1977 Charles Dickinson and Frank Saldaña joined the practice that became Mann, Dickinson, & Saldaña.
When Jimmy Jones joined the firm in 1985, the firm became Mann, Saldaña & Jones. Saldaña left to open his own firm, and the practice became Mann & Jones.
In the years after the death of Ed Mann in 1989, Lawrence became a solo practitioner, working from his office at Casa Ortiz from 1991 until his retirement in 2004, closing the chapter of his life as a much respected attorney.
Lawrence took pride in being the third generation of Manns who practiced law in Laredo, a legacy that began when his grandparents, Ida Mae Moore and T. C. Mann, moved to Laredo from Woodville in East Texas.
The T.C. Mann home n Woodville, Texas before the family moved to Laredo. Attorney T. C. Mann and his wife Ida Mae Moore Mann were Lawrence’s paternal grandparents.
Of special pride to the Mann family was that T. C.’s son, Thomas, had the distinction of serving as the U.S. ambassador to El Salvador and later to Mexico, the latter by appointment by President John F. Kennedy.
Lawrence counted among the grace notes of his 29-year legal career his friendships with attorneys Frank Saldaña and George Person, both whom had been partners in the Mann firm.
“So much of what I know about the law, I learned from Ed and Lawrence Mann,” Saldaña said, noting that Lawrence’s intelligence came with the ability to astutely analyze cases. “He was always willing to help the client. I was fortunate to have known him as a friend and a colleague,” he said.
Person recalled: “Not everyone in life is given a life-changing opportunity early in life. Being asked to join the Mann law firm in 1969 was just such an event for me and my young family. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Mann family for their confidence and most importantly for the example they set for me in my personal and professional life. The Mann family and mine have sustained that friendship to this day.”
“We all suffer the loss of Lawrence and other members of the Mann family who are no longer with us, but our bond with the Manns remains strong now and for generations to come. It was a blessing in 1969 and remains a blessing to this day,” he added.
CATHY AND LAWRENCE MEET
Lawrence enjoyed recounting the epiphany of longtime friend Frank X. Leyendecker, who sat up from a deep sleep one night to ask, “Why not?” and then proceeded to arrange the particulars for how Lawrence and Cathy would meet. Lawrence would invite Cathy to a small dinner party at Casa Ortiz, his historic downtown home on a bluff above the Río Grande.
Besides Cathy, the dinner party included Frank and his wife, Lucy, their daughter, Rebecca, and her husband Bill Wise.
Cathy recalls thinking that Lawrence was intelligent, a good conversationalist, well-read, and informed.
After their initial meeting, Lawrence would be out of town for a couple of weeks, leaving them both to think about the other.
She remembers: “It seems that when he got back we decided to spend our lives together. I could see by his relationships with his daughters that he was kind and loving. I was taken by his gracious demeanor. He was a student of life. We became each other’s best friends.
“The most memorable, most significant gift to me was the ease with which Lawrence made certain my children, Carlos and Adriana, became part of his life.
“We were homebodies, people who liked to read, except when we traveled. There were day trips to beautiful parts of the state, road trips to state and national parks, but also greater forays like the Lewis and Clark Trail, California’s Hwy. 1, Vancouver Island, Alaska’s Inner Passage, a Rhine River Cruise, Ireland, Scotland, and England for the birth of my granddaughter Catherine. All travel, far and near, was accompanied by Lawrence’s informative narratives on the historic significance of the places we visited.”
Cathy and Lawrence, Yellowstone National Park
They lived at Casa Ortiz until they moved to San Antonio in 2004.
Lawrence was a map man, one whose interest in history included the study of cartography and geography. His passion quest in later life was to have more free time to read biographies and books that chronicled events in world history or to learn about the wildlife corridors north and south of the Río Grande.
HIS WAS AN EXAMINED LIFE
Lawrence looked back at the arc of his life with gratitude for his children, for his life with Cathy, for the unconditional love of his parents and grandparents who shaped his values, for the long, beautiful sun-up to sun-down days at the Dinn Ranch, and for the refuge of the wildlife ecosystem of Palmillas, their ranch north of Laredo.
He was grateful, too, and often said so, for the good luck of having had a life in law that allowed him to solve problems for those in need of protection and representation.
Lawrence often referred to Cathy as “my bride,” a phrase that rang both tender and a bit rustic. She called him “the love of my life.”
In Laredo, he was now and again called “El abogado con el perro amarillo.” (The lawyer with the yellow dog.)
Lawrence with Chula, La Perra Amarilla
Lawrence Mann’s 85th Birthday, 2023, Lake Charles, Louisiana.
OUR REMEMBRANCES OF PAPA LAWRENCE
We count among our blessings that Cathy and Lawrence found in each other the trust and love that gave their lives together meaning, tranquility, happiness, and adventure.
LISA MANN TODD
He was wise, generous, strong, a deep thinker, a creative thinker. My Dad has been the best father and grandfather that anyone is blessed to have, and he felt the same about his parents and grandparents. To love and be loved unconditionally like that is a rare quality, and he did it well.
He was proud that he had helped those who needed a good lawyer to solve a problem, especially clients who had been taken advantage of by big corporations.
LAURIE MANN BECK
What I loved about my father: his was a searching and distilling soul, that he had constructive ingenuity, that he was a social realist and a loyalist who was an enduring and creative force. And most of all, Dad was a man who lived his deeply held convictions with a driving curiosity leaning towards dreams for constructive action via his germinating mind and soul.
MEDORA MANN BARKLEY
Lawrence was a force of nature with a dependable and honorable character. He was generous, intelligent, creative, reliable, trustworthy, charismatic, loving, ambitious, and bold.
PATRICIA LOUISE MANN
My father was a man who felt deeply and loved strong. He was wise, reliable, a worry wart, a problem solver, so very, very loving.
KATHRYN (CATI) MANN KAHN
He was my confidant, a visionary, an idealist, a peacemaker. He was influential and discerning.
As much as I loved hearing all my dad’s stories, he was also an incredible listener and advisor. I remember him talking to me about communication. He said, “If someone is upset, ask one question: ‘Do you want a hug, a good listener, or a solution?’”
This advice helped me when I was a teacher, with my own personal relationships, but most especially as a mother.
CARLOS G. SALINAS
Every time I asked Lawrence how he’s doing, he’d say, ”I’m doing better than I deserve, because my lovely bride still puts up with me.” He always said that about my mother with such love and sincerity. These words come to mind when I think of him: father, husband, advocate, intelligent.
ADRIANA SALINAS CUNE
I believe these were his attributes: generous, loving, brilliant, strong-willed, and “big thinker” — the latter to mean that he always had incredible entrepreneurial ideas, some of which may have been before their time.
Papa Lawrence named my son Dylan “Sir Winston” because Dylan was born in England, and he called him that every time he saw him. It’s pretty cool to be named after Papa Lawrence’s favorite 20th century statesman!
The memory that will remain with me indelibly happened just a few days ago: Papa woke up briefly to find my daughter Catherine there, and he smiled animatedly and reached out with both hands to bring her face to him to give her a kiss hello. He adores his family, and it was overwhelmingly evident in his eyes in that moment. Though she’s only 12, she was extremely moved by how sweet and genuine that gesture was.
MEMORIAL RECEPTION
Friends and family members are invited to join the family for a memorial reception in San Antonio on Saturday, September 21, at the Argyle Club, 934 Patterson, from noon to 3 p.m. Attire for the event is coat and tie.
In lieu of flowers, Lawrence’s family suggests a donation to the charity of your choice or to the Mays Cancer Center (https://makelivesbetter.uthscsa.edu/cancercenterdonate), which supports breakthrough cancer research and drug development and directly impacts the lives of countless cancer patients and their families. For further information, contact Ryan Wallace, Senior Director of Development, at (210) 567-2575.
