Dr. Robert Fletcher Mann
I
Serving with Humility
BY: ROBIN COWHERD
f you spend a few minutes with Bob Mann, you will immediately recognize he is from somewhere in North Carolina. He will tell you with pride that he was born and raised in the small town of Enfield, population 2,500, in North Carolina, twenty miles north of Rocky Mount. Enfield is the oldest town in Halifax County and at one time could lay claim as the world’s largest raw peanut market. The town is lodged in Bob’s memory. Bob was born on November 7, 1932 in the family home that was built in 1884 and delivered by his father’s best friend, Dr. Whitaker. He was given the name Robert, after his maternal grandfather and the middle name Fletcher, after his paternal grandfather. Bob’s birth came in the middle of the Great Depression. Following the successful delivery, his father William Mann looked at the doctor, his friend, and asked, “How much do I owe you?” Dr. Whitaker quickly replied, “How ‘bout you take down those three gum trees and deliver the wood to me? I need to build a bridge.” The transaction was mutually agreed upon and became a part of the Mann family lore. Every time his father passed the tree stumps, he reminded Bob of the payment he made to bring him into the world. His dad completed law school but in the ‘30s depression era there was no money to be made in lawyering, so he became a farmer. Bob would later say that his father was one of three people he admired most in life (the other two being Winston Churchill and Harry Truman).
His mother, Theresa Hope Dickens Mann, completed a music degree at Coker College in South Carolina. She taught music in school and also played piano and taught Sunday School. She was quite active at the Enfield First Methodist Church, where Bob’s faith journey began.
He fondly remembers his father late in his life calling him from a nursing home to ask a favor. His father was never baptized and wanted “to be made one with Christ” before he died. That afternoon Bob called three pastors about the possibility. The local Methodist and Presbyterian pastors were not available. The Pentecostal pastor was ready, willing and able. Bob’s father was baptized that day. Twenty-nine days later, his father died.
Bob remembers life as a child in Enfield like it was yesterday. He spent summers fishing, hunting, playing sports, riding Billy Goats, and spending time on the back porch of his home. In the winters, he remembers cutting wood for the fireplace and the stove. His mother ensured that Christian education was part of his development. She was most conscious of the Holy Bible and taught it regularly.
Enfield First Methodist Church was a good place to grow up. Bob made many friends there with one notable experience. Bob and his crew of friends were often running throughout the church facility. Inevitably, accidents happened. Once during a session of “cops and robbers,” his best friend ran smack into a door in the church breaking his teeth in the process. That friend used the experience to help him determine his place in the world…he ultimately became the Chief of Dental Surgery at the University of North Carolina.
want to be a psychiatrist. She responded by saying, “Good! Two of those are enough in one family!”
Bob graduated from Enfield High School in the class of 1951, where he played three sports. He headed on to Wake Forrest University for his undergraduate education. He did not really know what he wanted to do as a career but noticed that at that time all the doctors he saw were old, except a Dr. Gray who became a mentor for Bob and helped him decide to study medicine.
France presented a totally different culture, of course, but one Bob grew to enjoy a great deal. The absolute highlight came about not long after being stationed there in 1962 when he met Beverly Jananne Coultas, who was working for the USO at Toul. Bob was smitten and in great southern tradition, he courted her for six months and married her…twice! The mayor of Toul first married them on May 31, 1963. And then they were married again in the Chapel on the grounds at the base on June 1, 1963. The wedding was the largest wedding ever on the base. To this date, Bob says his wedding days were the happiest moments of his life.
Upon graduation from Wake Forrest, Bob told his mother of his desire to go to medical school. Bob had a brother and nephew who both studied medicine and became psychiatrists. He told his mother he did not
Bob attended Bowman Gray School of Medicine (now named Wake Forrest School of Medicine) graduating in 1959 and his internship and residency were completed at the North Carolina Medical Center in Chapel Hill. After his residency was complete, Bob joined the Army and was stationed and in charge at the 57th field hospital in Toul, France for 2 ½ years.
Bev and Bob Mann returned to the States later in 1963 to start their new life together. The journey together started in Windsor, North Carolina as a general practitioner and did house calls all over the county. He quickly moved to what would be his long-time home in Norfolk, VA and continued to make house calls and carried the little, black doctor’s bag. In Norfolk, Bob began three additional years of internal medicine training at Norfolk General Hospital, and then started his internal medicine practice in 1967. He quickly added three partners. The Manns had four children: Terrie, Caroline, Bobby, and Michael, two boys and two girls. They now have eight grandchildren and one granddog. The children visit regularly as three live in Virginia and one in West Virginia. Bob believed strongly that parents should expose their children to the Christian faith. How did he do this? Bob says that was simple, “I just carried them to Sunday School when I went to church.” He gives credit to Bev and the children for their help and support of his medical practice throughout the years.
As he started his career, Dr. Bob Mann envisioned the character traits he strived to uphold, “to be a good citizen, be especially good to all people, be humble and to go to church.” His faith has matured over the years and finds it has grown even stronger since his retirement in 2016. He finds it comforting to believe that “he will go from this life to a life with Jesus Christ.” Bob joined First Presbyterian Church in 1970 following an introduction to the pastor at the time, Dr. Andrew Byrd, by his friend Jim Slaughter. He enjoys worshipping at First Presbyterian as frequently as his health allows. Bob’s career in medicine fulfilled his desire to be the best he could be and to help as many people as possible. His professional life journey was not always easy. He believes that the practice of medicine today is much more difficult than in years past. “Doctors do not have enough time with the patients and more people come between the doctor and the patient,” Bob says. Still, the best compliments he has received in his life have come from his patients: “I was always there when I was needed, I remembered their names, and got to the diagnosis as quickly as possible.”
"I always felt like I would pray, hope God helps me, and never forget to thank Him for the guidance!" Being the founder of a medical practice required a variety of skills, not the least of which is leadership qualities to foster harmony with everyone with whom he worked. This skill was not easy and tested Bob. But, as in all things, Bob felt the church helped keep him focused on what he needed to do. Bob says, “I always felt like I would pray, hope God helps me, and never forget to thank Him for the guidance!”
Dr. Robert Mann has not taken a count of the number of people he has helped from the fifty-seven years of practicing medicine. He admits the number would be “well into the thousands.” It is clear from Bob’s life journey that he has indeed honored the character traits he envisioned over half a century ago when he began his practice: serving people with humility while walking with his God.