A Once-in-a-Generation Pivotal Leader ’’

Friend, Confidante, Scholar, Leader, Educator, Father, Husband, Grandfather, Faithful Servant. There is nothing I would not do for Dennis Manning. I knew Dennis first as the Head of Norfolk Academy, our daughter Caryn’s school. I grew to love him as a cherished friend of our family. We worked and served together to make not only Norfolk Academy but the region of Hampton Roads a better place. He embraced diversity, equity, and inclusion long before it became a popular phrase. Our friends became his friends; he brought United States Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater to speak at Norfolk Academy. He brought United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the Norfolk Forum. Dennis brought the Reverend Samuel “Billy” Kyles, the last person living who was with the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis when King was assassinated, to speak at Norfolk Academy. Dennis and his lovely wife, Elizabeth, hosted a dinner in their home for the Reverend Kyles and invited me, Sheliah, and Caryn.

Dennis Manning is a once-in-a-generation pivotal servant leader. Our daughter Caryn’s life, as well as my wife Sheliah’s and my own are better, richer, and fuller because of Dennis Manning.

Faithfully,

Rev. Harold James Cobb Jr.

Rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Norfolk and father of Caryn Cobb ’11