Rodney Harlan Mann was born on Sept 11, 1951 in Ft Worth Texas to his parents, Leota Hortense and Raymond Edgar Mann.  He passed away June 3, 2020 in Tyler Texas.

In his youthful years, Rodney was a precocious child full of curiosity, energy and love of his parents, brothers and sister. Like his father, he was athletic playing football and basketball in school.  His good looks made him popular in school. When not in class, he was eager to work on his parents' ranch and at the cattle sale barn.

Shortly after he graduated from Perrin High School he married and had a son named Chad.

Not long thereafter, he had a son named Brad.

He moved to Houston and became an apprentice plumber.  It was there that Rodney was gravely injured in an industrial accident that resulted in severely injuring his left knee and the amputation of his left arm.  The life altering disabilities he suffered along with pain medication he was prescribed pushed him into depression and low self-esteem. From that time forward, Rodney was unable to return to the work force and barely subsisted.

During the last 5 years of his life, Rodney retained his characteristic coarseness, but he allowed some degree of a gentler, more thoughtful personality to shine through.  He regularly wrote letters to Mike and Rhonda and eagerly awaited visits with them during which he would always ask about Toby and Justin and their families and if they had talked to his sons or to Jason or to anyone in Rudy's family.  Unfortunately, the pandemic ended those visits.

In the last 90 days, Rodney could see the pathway for him to come home to Gibtown.  Back to the house his parents lived in and back on the land he had grown up on.  He regularly called Mike and Rhonda, sometimes multiple times per week always giving them a list of actions he wanted them to accomplish for him.  During the next call, he would always review the actions to confirm that they had completed them for him.  It was during those phone calls that Rodney would tell them that he loved them and that he appreciated everything they did for him.

Rodney was a complex man that was often difficult to like but beneath his coarseness and addictions, he was a kind man that was loved.  Like all of us, he was a child of God.

Rodney had a tougher life than most people.  God loves the downtrodden, the afflicted, the sick and the poor. We know God loved Rodney. We won't know why he had to endure so many hardships, but we do know that his difficulties and challenges are over and that he is in a better place.

Rodney was predeceased by his mother, Leota Hortense Mann (Ma Mann), his father, Raymond Edgar Mann (Pa Mann), brother, Randy Mann, and brother Rudy Mann.

He is survived by his sons, Chad Mann, wife Jennifer, grandchildren Chase and Cayla, Brad Mann, wife Amy, grandchildren McKinsey Thurston, Haley James, Haden James and Abigail Mann, his sister, Rhonda Mann Lasley, sister-in-Law, Paula Mann, and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was a member of Gibtown Baptist Church

2 ^nd Corinthians 4:8-12

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

A graveside service will be held on Thursday, June 16, 2022 at 10:00 AM at Roselawn Memorial Park in Denton, Texas.