White Sulphur Springs – Della Marie Mann (nee Walsh), 84, passed away from cancer on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017, at the Big Elm Retirement Center in Kannapolis, North Carolina.
She was born Dec. 16, 1932 to Cline George Walsh and Sylvia Irene Walsh (nee Jenkins) and became a sister to Virginia Lynch, and later, to Calvin “Buddy’’ Walsh.
A spirited Green Devil, Della graduated from White Sulphur Springs High School in 1952. In her senior year Home Economics project, she cited two goals for her life: to be a loyal wife and a good mother. Later that year, she married James Winters Mann. Together they had five children: James Winters Mann, Jr., Susan Marie Parks, Charles Edward Mann, Steven Alan Mann, and Sylvia Ann Mann.
Other survivors include her sister, Virginia Lynch; seven grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. Her husband preceded her in death in 1996.
Della and Jim spent their lives travelling across the country and lived in many different states before they settled in Bradenton, Florida, where they became members of Bethel Baptist Church. When they returned to White Sulphur Springs in the mid-1990s, Della became a member of Shuck Memorial Baptist Church in Lewisburg. She was a proud Christian, and she enjoyed singing in the church choir and attending weekly services.
She will be remembered for her laughter, her love of good stories, and her affection for friends and neighbors at the Senior Center and the Lewisburg Manor.
Later in life, Della discovered a passion for dancing, spending many evenings at the American Heritage Music Hall doing what she liked to call “freestyle flat footing.” Today the roll was called up yonder in that big golden dance hall in the sky, and Dancing Della, a.k.a. “The Dancing Grandma,’’ raised her hand. She is sure to be freestyle flat footing with God and all the angels right now.
A service will be held at 11 a.m. at Shuck Memorial Baptist Church in Lewisburg on Saturday, Sept. 30. Della will be buried at Hillcrest cemetery in White Sulphur Springs.
Wallace & Wallace Funeral Home in Lewisburg is in charge of arrangements. Please send online condolences by visiting www.WallaceandWallaceFH.com.
