Joan Mann

Joan Mann left this life on Oct. 18, 2026. Curiosity, humor, resilience, and diligence contributed to a life of contribution and accomplishment.

Born Joan Audrey Hageman on Jan. 3, 1928, her formative years were with her mother, aunt, grandmother, and grandfather. An only child surrounded by working women — including her grandmother who ran the home with a fastidious British hand — and her policeman grandfather, she was also the only girl in a neighborhood of boys. Stickball was a frequent past-time; basketball became a lettered sport; and her love of spectator sports was nurtured by listening to baseball on the radio with her grandfather. She spent some time studying tap and ballet, and was cajoled into doing routines at her grandfather’s precinct.

Times were tight, and she was unable to take advantage of a partial scholarship to Duke for pre-med studies. Instead, she trained as a Cadet Nurse and finished just as World War II was ending.

Joan met Russel Mann in 1941 in a church youth group. They married in 1948 and lived their early married years in Levittown, where they made lifelong friends and started a family.

In 1959, with four children, the Mann family moved to Southold, where Russell began to build a new career and Joan focused on parenting and, shortly after, nursing.

Resourceful and industrious, with a can-do attitude, Joan worked her way from hospital to private-duty nursing (delighting in a stint with Carol Channing) to earning a BA to work as a school nurse and, finally, earning an MA in 1985 that qualified her to assist with the development of Special Education programs in Springs School, where she worked for 20 years.

Making things came naturally to Joan: whether clothing (She would regularly “whip something up.”), upholstery, embroidery, or beading, there were always projects at hand.

Joan’s retirement included volunteering for East End Home Health and Hospice, serving on the Eastern Long Island Hospital Board where she focused on fundraising, and avid participation in the local Embroidery Guild. In all her lifelong pursuits, it was her outgoing nature and the camaraderie of those she was with that buoyed her.

Joan and Russell traveled extensively in retirement, enjoying trips to Europe, South America, and Alaska, as well as yearly sojourns to Russell’s P47 Pilot Reunions. But most of all, they treasured their home of many years that looked out at Peconic Bay and Shelter Island.

Joan and Russ both lived long and fulfilling lives, rife with adventure and richness.

Joan has now rejoined Russell, who left this life in 2019. She leaves behind their four children and sons-in-law: Jacqueline and Edmund Zeneski, Deborah Smith, David Mann, and Allison Mann and John Lewis; four grandchildren/in-laws: Gregory and Doreen Zeneski, Gerritt and Ron Whittaker, Kathryn and Dan Lillis, and Evan Lewis; and four great-grandchildren: Abby and Finn Whittaker, and Danny and Evelyn Lillis.

A gathering to honor Joan’s life will be held at the Water’s Edge in the Community Center at Peconic Landing on Sunday, Nov. 8, from 2 to 4 p.m., with songs and readings at 2:30.

If you would like to honor Joan’s life, please make a donation to a charitable organization that serves those in need.

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