Obituary for Harold Robert Bradley Mann
On Monday, July 6th, 2020, Harold Mann, husband, father and grandfather, passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack at the age of 59, at the place he loved the most, “the cottage”. Harold will be forever remembered by his wife and best friend Karen, their three precious children, Jennifer (Chris), David (Sarah), Shawn (Dawn), by his grandchildren, Cohen Desveaux and Kailey Mann, and his new grandbaby expected in August. He will forever be remembered by his in-laws, Arch and Edna Brown, and is sadly missed by his numerous nieces, nephews, extended family, and dear friends.
Harold was born in Cobourg, Ontario. He registered at Ryerson University in Business where he met his one true love, Karen. It was love at first sight for Harold, where he immediately said, “that’s the girl I’m going to marry”. With a love unmatched, the two married in their second year, and enjoyed an incredible, 40-year love affair.
Harold’s entrepreneurial flair resulted in various business ventures throughout university. These included, the “Window Mann”, “The Lawn Mann”, and most notably, “Dickie Dee Ice Cream Bikes”, where Harold and Karen worked 7 days a week, all summer long, in order to make enough money to pay for their schooling, as well as their wedding.
Harold’s career started with Imperial Tobacco, as a sales rep. His next large business endeavor dealt with computers and networking systems in Toronto, and then Atlanta, Georgia; where he moved with his wife, Karen and 6-month-old daughter, Jennifer. David and Shawn, their identical twin boys, were born in Atlanta 3 years later.
In addition to his corporate life, Jenn and Karen’s love of horses started yet another adventure, with a stable of no less than fifteen horses at a time. He supported Jennifer in numerous early morning horse shows and supported the boys in their various sports. He helped coach many baseball seasons in Atlanta and loved every minute of it.
Twelve years later (2002), the family returned to settle in Bobcaygeon to be closer to Arch and Edna Brown, the kids’ grandparents. Harold was hired by TD bank and enjoyed a 6-year career in the payments industry before becoming a founding partner of OptionPay Inc. and Real Time Merchant Services. He was very well respected and touched so many people throughout his career.
One of Harold’s happiest days was when Karen retired from TD bank. This was the start of a very exciting time for them. Harold had big travel plans and loved more than anything to travel with his best friend, Claude, and his wife Tiffany. Claude, aka French Bastard, and Harold were so in-sync and shared a once in a lifetime friendship. Harold loved Mexico and couldn’t wait to go on future trips with his friends and family.
A true Pisces, he loved Shadow Lake and had a regiment of regular swims all season long. He was an avid snow and water skier. The Mann ski school started early on and has had many graduates. He loved a great game of cards or a Maple Leaf Hockey game. He loved every aspect of cottage life, which included many laughs, BBQs, stories, hot tubs, games and entertaining.
Harold had an incredible ability to make people feel at ease and truly loved life, he really was one of a kind. He had a great sense of humor and he had a joke for almost every occasion, was always upbeat, happy and full of energy. He always knew the right thing to say. He would help anybody with anything and was extremely clever. He was level-headed and could take the tension out of every situation with ease. He was an incredible networker, businessman and he always made people laugh. He was always listening, thinking and continuously learning. He always kept positive and was a happy-go-lucky type of guy.
As a father, he was always involved and loved to participate in everything the kids would do. He and Karen built the foundation on which their children’s character was developed, and he helped to mold them into who they are today. He was incredibly proud of all three of his children and would brag about all of them, every time he got the chance.
The world has been robbed of an incredible person who touched the lives of so many. A celebration of life will be held at a later date by invitation, at the family cottage.
The family would love to hear all of your stories, fun times and happy memories as they will help us heal. Please share any pictures you may have with the family at: Jennifer.desveaux@outlook.com
In lieu of flowers, monetary donations in memory of Harold can be made to either SickKids Foundation or The Ronald McDonald House Charities of Canada.
Harold was born in Cobourg, Ontario. He registered at Ryerson University in Business where he met his one true love, Karen. It was love at first sight for Harold, where he immediately said, “that’s the girl I’m going to marry”. With a love unmatched, the two married in their second year, and enjoyed an incredible, 40-year love affair.
Harold’s entrepreneurial flair resulted in various business ventures throughout university. These included, the “Window Mann”, “The Lawn Mann”, and most notably, “Dickie Dee Ice Cream Bikes”, where Harold and Karen worked 7 days a week, all summer long, in order to make enough money to pay for their schooling, as well as their wedding.
Harold’s career started with Imperial Tobacco, as a sales rep. His next large business endeavor dealt with computers and networking systems in Toronto, and then Atlanta, Georgia; where he moved with his wife, Karen and 6-month-old daughter, Jennifer. David and Shawn, their identical twin boys, were born in Atlanta 3 years later.
In addition to his corporate life, Jenn and Karen’s love of horses started yet another adventure, with a stable of no less than fifteen horses at a time. He supported Jennifer in numerous early morning horse shows and supported the boys in their various sports. He helped coach many baseball seasons in Atlanta and loved every minute of it.
Twelve years later (2002), the family returned to settle in Bobcaygeon to be closer to Arch and Edna Brown, the kids’ grandparents. Harold was hired by TD bank and enjoyed a 6-year career in the payments industry before becoming a founding partner of OptionPay Inc. and Real Time Merchant Services. He was very well respected and touched so many people throughout his career.
One of Harold’s happiest days was when Karen retired from TD bank. This was the start of a very exciting time for them. Harold had big travel plans and loved more than anything to travel with his best friend, Claude, and his wife Tiffany. Claude, aka French Bastard, and Harold were so in-sync and shared a once in a lifetime friendship. Harold loved Mexico and couldn’t wait to go on future trips with his friends and family.
A true Pisces, he loved Shadow Lake and had a regiment of regular swims all season long. He was an avid snow and water skier. The Mann ski school started early on and has had many graduates. He loved a great game of cards or a Maple Leaf Hockey game. He loved every aspect of cottage life, which included many laughs, BBQs, stories, hot tubs, games and entertaining.
Harold had an incredible ability to make people feel at ease and truly loved life, he really was one of a kind. He had a great sense of humor and he had a joke for almost every occasion, was always upbeat, happy and full of energy. He always knew the right thing to say. He would help anybody with anything and was extremely clever. He was level-headed and could take the tension out of every situation with ease. He was an incredible networker, businessman and he always made people laugh. He was always listening, thinking and continuously learning. He always kept positive and was a happy-go-lucky type of guy.
As a father, he was always involved and loved to participate in everything the kids would do. He and Karen built the foundation on which their children’s character was developed, and he helped to mold them into who they are today. He was incredibly proud of all three of his children and would brag about all of them, every time he got the chance.
The world has been robbed of an incredible person who touched the lives of so many. A celebration of life will be held at a later date by invitation, at the family cottage.
The family would love to hear all of your stories, fun times and happy memories as they will help us heal. Please share any pictures you may have with the family at: Jennifer.desveaux@outlook.com
In lieu of flowers, monetary donations in memory of Harold can be made to either SickKids Foundation or The Ronald McDonald House Charities of Canada.