John Carroll Mans, age 77, of Riceville, IA, passed away on Saturday, December 23, 2023.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 am on Thursday, December 28, 2023 at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Riceville. Visitation will be held one hour prior to services on Thursday morning at the church.
John was born on September 26, 1946 at the Riceville hospital and was the first son of Reinhart and Polly (Bieniek) Mans who were living in McIntire, Iowa. The young family soon moved to Riceville and were joined by two more boys, Dennis and Tom.
John was an inquisitive child and spent his free time playing with electric circuitry and conducting various science experiments with his brothers. When he was young, John’s parents discovered that he had a kidney problem and so many trips were made to the Mayo Clinic where they followed his medical condition. John went to college at Loras, in Dubuque, Iowa and majored in Physics. After a short time working at a factory in Clinton, John was hired as an Electric Technician at the Iowa Public Television tower near St. Ansgar, Iowa. He was in charge of the tower there as well as the ones near Decorah and Lansing. He maintained the three towers and if there was a breakdown, he had to figure out the problem and repair it. He did not climb the towers, but supervised the maintenance for them. John worked there for thirty years and then took early retirement. In addition to work, John went to dialysis for over 28 years. He went to dialysis three times a week, first at Mason City, then at Charles City and continued until December 18, 2023.
John is preceded in death by his parents, his brother Tom, and his nephew Jesse. Survivors include his wife, Ellen Grady-Mans, daughter Caitlin Sharpe, son-in-law Paxton Sharpe, and granddaughter Elizabeth Adaline, who is one month old. Caitlin and her family live in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she is the registrar at the Colorado Springs Pioneer Museum. The family is very close and liked to attend musicals in the cities, went on two cruises, and often took a trip to visit family in various parts of the U.S. John is also survived by his brother Dennis, sisters-in-law Alice and Mary Kay, nephew Jeremy and nieces Janine and Rachel.
John will be missed because of his quiet gentle manners and his curiosity about computers and electrical endeavors. He built the house his family lives in, something he wanted to do from when he was in his early twenties. He wanted to find his life partner and he did when he married Ellen on August 3rd, 1985. In 1989, their daughter Caitlin was born, a much loved added bonus. He achieved all his dreams and was ready for his next life.
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