Clifford Mann

The Rev. C. Jordan Mann, 91, died in Kerrville, Texas on Friday, January 1, 2010. His family was nearby.
Jordan and his twin brother John Wayne, Jr. were born at the Jordan Sanatorium in Pine Bluff, Arkansas on March 5, 1918. Their mother was Gussie Rhinehardt Jones, formerly of Pine Bluff. They had a sister Lenora Donaldson Mann, born December 7, 1915. Their father J. Wayne Mann was a Methodist minister and member of the Little Rock Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, then serving as pastor in Lewisville, Arkansas.

Jordan grew up in Arkansas, and, in 1937, transferred to Southern Methodist University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. In 1942, he received the Bachelor of Divinity now the Master of Divinity from SMU School of Theology now Perkins School of Theology. The same year, he joined the Southwest Texas Conference of the Methodist Church and entered the U.S. Naval chaplaincy. He served as chaplain in the U.S. Marine Corps at Camp LeJeune, NC and a brief time with the marines in the south Pacific. Following the war, Jordan continued his ministry, serving pastorates over the next fortyfive years at Charlotte, McCamey, Austin St. Luke, Tarrytown and Memorial, Columbus, Sinton, Brownsville, Kerrville District, Del Rio and Kingsville.

Jordan and Betty Conley of Raymondville, Texas met during their college years at SMU and married on August 22, 1941. They had three children. Charles Wayne and his wife Sandra, attorneys in Edinburg, Texas, have two sons, Charlie and Willie. Clifford Calvin, a retired doctor living in Arizona, and his wife Chris have two daughters, Rebecca and Emily, who is married to John Fitzner. Margaret Elizabeth and her husband Murray Libersat have three children Julien, Jeffrey and Julie. Julien and his wife Valerie have one child, Mathias Jordan.

In 1982, Jordan retired in Kingsville where he and Betty continued to live for another very active fifteen years. This was an especially important time for family visits with children and grandchildren. They also participated in Elderhostel programs all over the U.S. and abroad, worked on hobbies and spent time at their cabin quotMannMadequot in Hunt, Texas. Jordans reading and woodworking were his main passions later in life reading at least two books a week, whittling, chip carving or furniture building wherever they went. In 1997, Jordan and Betty moved to a retirement home in Kerrville where Betty died in 2000. Jordans ashes will be interred next to hers at their cabin on the South Fork of the Guadalupe River.
Jordan will be remembered as much for his contributions as a Methodist minister, husband and father as for his sharp intellect, humor and wit. He and his wife, their love for each other and the life they lived together, dedicated to learning new things and to helping others, will remain an inspiration for his family and those who knew him.

Memorial services will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 17, 2010 at First United Methodist Church, 321 Thompson Drive in Kerrville, Texas 78028. Donations in Jordan Manns name may be made to the following causes which he supported: Good Neighbor Settlement House, 1254 E. Tyler Street, Brownsville, TX 78520 Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, P.O. Box 750133, Dallas, TX 75275 Southern Poverty Law Center, 400 Washington Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36104.

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