Kincardine loses great ambassador as former town mayor Charles Mann dies

Kincardine has lost one of its great ambassadors, as former town mayor, Charles Mann, died Saturday afternoon at the age of 94.

Born June 30, 1922, and raised in Port Hope, Ontario, he joined the militia in 1937 and the regular army in 1940. In 1942, he volunteered for the renowned First Special Service Force (the Devil's Brigade or Black Devils).

Like most soldiers, he saw the world. He served in the Aleutians Islands in Alaska, North Africa and Italy. As a member of the Special Service Force, he was involved in fierce fighting in Italy. In late 1944, when he was in southern France, the Special Service Force was disbanded. He was in England when the war ended and then returned to Canada.

He married June Popkin of Montreal in 1946, and they had two children, Melodee and Marten.

They moved to Kincardine in 1964 where Mann worked as a nuclear operator at the Bruce Nuclear Power Development (now Bruce Power and Ontario Power Generation).

He also spent 27 years in Kincardine municipal politics, 13 as mayor, before the town was amalgamated into the Municipality of Kincardine in 1999. His wife died in 2006.

Mann has been honoured with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal; an Award of Excellence from the Canadian government in Ottawa for his service in the Second World War; and in 2013, was named Kincardine's Citizen of the Year. In 2015, he and his colleagues from the Devil's Brigade were awarded the United States Congressional Gold Medal.



Charles Mann (right) receiving the United States Congressional Gold Medal in 2015

He continued his association with the First Canadian Special Services Battalion, representing it at the National Council on Veterans Affairs and the Canadian Airborne Forces Association.

A tireless volunteer, he always worked for the betterment of the community, helping at the Kincardine Legion and with the Kincardine Scottish Pipe Band.

Mann is survived by his two children, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Funeral arrangements have yet to be announced.



Charles Mann (right) of Kincardine, with Master Corporal Matthew Patterson of Hanover, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, at the Kincardine District Secondary School Remembrance Day service, November, 2016