Betty Lou Mann

Betty Lou Flynn Mann was born September 28, 1922, in Westville, Illinois, a tiny coal mining town not far from Danville. She died August 12, 2015, in Abilene. She was 92.

A private burial at the Texas State Veterans Cemetery will precede a memorial service at 3 p.m. Monday, August 17, 2015 at University Church of Christ. The family will greet guests after the service in the Family Room at the church.

Betty was the oldest of three children born to Robert and Hattie Roberts Flynn. Her father was superintendent of the coal mine in Westville, and her maternal grandfather ran the general store. She completed high school there and attended Freed-Hardeman College in Henderson, Tennessee, for a year before the death of her mother. She returned to Illinois to help rear her younger brother and sister who were only 12 and 5 years old.

In March of 1944, she travelled to Chicago to visit friends from Freed-Hardeman for a weekend and met J.C. Mann, a young naval officer from Texas who was attending midshipman school in Chicago. Betty and J.C. were engaged by April and married that December at his parents’ home in Fort Worth where she had traveled, planning to spend the Christmas holidays. Two days later they took the train to San Diego. By January, J.C. returned to duty in the Pacific until the end of World War II and Betty returned to Illinois to care for her father and siblings.

After the war, the couple lived briefly in Fort Worth and McCamey before they settled in Midland where J.C. worked for Pure Oil Company as a crude oil buyer and Betty worked for Shell Oil as a switchboard operator. Their only daughter, Cheryl, was born in Midland just months before they moved to Colorado where they would live for 17 years, first in Fort Morgan and later in Littleton.

In Colorado, Betty was active in the Republican Women’s Club and as a hospital volunteer, serving as an officer at Swedish Medical Center in Denver and the Colorado Hospital Auxiliary Association.

The Manns returned to Midland in 1971 then moved to Houston in 1974 where they lived until J.C. retired. Everywhere they lived, Betty was a regular volunteer with the PTA, 4H, and other activities Cheryl was involved in. In retirement, she resumed her political involvement to manage the campaign office in Bob Hunter’s first race for State Representative.

Betty was always involved in church activities, teaching Bible class and visiting the sick. During their years in Houston she visited cancer patients at M.D. Anderson Cancer center every week.

The couple moved to Abilene in 1980 and lived there longer than any other community during their 68 years of marriage. In retirement, their lives revolved around their grandchildren, never missing a ballgame, dance recital or other special event. They were devoted members of University Church of Christ.

Betty was preceded in death by her parents, her brother John Flynn, and her husband, J.C. She is survived by her daughter, Cheryl Mann Bacon of Abilene; her grandson Michael Bacon of Ballinger, and granddaughter Kate Flynn Bacon, of Abilene. She is also survived by her sister, Peggy Crist of Danville, and several nieces and nephews.

The family wishes to thank Dr. James Wray, and the staffs of Wesley Court and The Oaks at Radford Hills for their patient, gentle care. Those wishing to honor Betty’s life with a memorial gift may contribute to the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, ACU Box 27892, Abilene, TX 79699, or Christian Homes and Family Services, 1202 Estates Drive, Abilene, TX 79602.