Richard (Dick) Mann,1938-2022

Hi all,

It is with great sadness that I’m letting Members know about the recent death, in early May, of long time Southend Member, Richard (Dick) Mann. Kath, Dick’s wife, phoned Invicta Club Secretary, and former teammate of Dick, David Barnes, to tell him the sad news. Dick having had complications following a hip replacement. Our thoughts are with Kath, her family and their friends.

Kath said Dick was born in 1938 and they had enjoyed a long and happy life together. For many years they ran a Green Grocers in the Broadway, Thorpe Bay, where shoppers always enjoyed stopping and chatting with Dick: ever cheerful and positive: he will be much missed.

Dick was forced to stop playing in 2012 due to back problems, but Kath said that right up to going into hospital, Dick would follow the reports on the SDTTL website and comment on people he knew.

There will be a Service at the Southend Crematorium on Monday 13th June at 11 o’clock, to which friends from SDTTL will be welcome to attend. A Burial will follow at Hall Road Cemetery in Hawkwell (near the Cock Inn).

Dick played with David Barnes at the Invicta Club for many years until in the early 1990s he joined the Whittingham Table Tennis Club. Where he played until his retirement in 2012. Other Members in his Whittingham Team were Ron Schwendener, Dick’s son in law Craig Harris and Steve Clifford, plus others at different times. The Club ran for many years and played at the Methodist Church, Whittingham Avenue, Southend.

David Barnes, Dick’s former Invicta Table Tennis Club Teammate and friend, commented that he will remember Dick for his placid nature and dry sense of humour. Even when Dick's back problems caused him give up table tennis, Dick still had an interest in the league and often turned up to watch the Closed tournament.

Ken Field,  Chairman

Southend & District Table Tennis League