Malibu resident Shirley Jean Mann died on June 11 at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center of complications from multiple sclerosis.
Mann was born in Cherryvale, Kan. on June 25, 1926 to Cleo M. and Adaline C. (Calihan) Mann. She attended college at K-State for three years and then trained to become a hospital technician. After several years in that capacity, she tried a stint in show business in New York City, and spent several years with the national company of “Music Man,” touring several states. She graduated from the Pasadena Playhouse, and went on to sing in several Beverly Hills clubs before retiring.
When her parents became ill, she returned to Wellington, Kan. to care for them. While there, she opened a successful dance studio. After the death of her father in 1982, she and her mother moved back to Malibu. Her mother died four years later.
Mann is survived by her companion of nearly 25 years, L. James Nangle, and cousins Horace J. Mann of Moline, Kan., and Margaret J. Taylor of Louisiana.
Services took place on June 20.