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William Houston Mann of Southampton and Palm Beach, Florida, died on August 27, 2017, surrounded by his family. He was 91 and the cause of death was pneumonia.
Born June 13, 1926, in Baltimore, Maryland, to Henry and Helen Mann (Grimes), Mr. Mann was educated at Le Rosey, Switzerland, Brooks School, and graduated from Yale in 1950, after serving in the U.S. Navy for two years in the Pacific during World War II. Mr. Mann was president of Manca Inc. and president of Leitz Inc., importers of cameras and industrial scientific instruments. Leitz eventually became Leica camera company.
Mr. Mann was the founding member and served as chairman of the board for 30 years for St. Luke’s Institute, a Catholic healing ministry for the clergy. He received the award of Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice from the Pope in 2006. An avid lover of opera, Mr. Mann was a member of the Met Opera Club and was co-chair of the Collegiate Chorale Board for many years. He was a board member of the Hampton Classic, a member of many clubs, including the Knickerbocker, the Yale Club, the Southampton Bathing Corporation, the Meadow Club, The National golf club, Maidstone Club, Everglades Club, and the Bath and Tennis in Palm Beach.
Mr. Mann was fluent in German, French and Spanish. He lived in Argentina briefly with his first wife, Beba Spradling, the mother of his five children. Survivors said he was a gentleman in every respect.
He is survived by his wife of 17 years, Anna Murdoch Mann; his four daughters and a son, Paul Mann of Florida, Monique Czaja of Florida, Mercedes Olivieri of Sagaponack, Alexandra Talmage of Springs, and Maria Mann of New Jersey; seven grandchildren; and one great-grandson. He is alsos survived by sisters, Dickie Cummins of East Hampton and Helen Wright of Manhattan.
A private funeral was held on August 30 in Southampton. A memorial will be held at a later date to be announced.
on Sep 4, 2017