Sherry Irene Mann

1936-2026

Sherry passed away on June 23, 2026. She was born in 1936 in Waukegan, Illinois, to Roy Harry and Lorene Arvada Anderson. She grew up in Waukegan on Chapel Street with her sister, Sandra Jo, and in the late 1940s moved with her family to Sioux City, Iowa, where she graduated from Central High school in 1954.

As a young woman, Sherry lived and worked in downtown Chicago and shared city life with her friend Barbara Badger. She married Robert “Bob” Emil Grodotz and became the mother of Stephen Charles, who died as an infant in 1958. In 1961, Sherry became a Godmother to Kathleen Renee Wessels at Saint Andrew’s Church in Grayslake, Illinois.

Sherry’s adventurous spirit and sense of service led her to the Foreign Service with the U.S. State Department. She worked at the embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, and later at the U.S. Embassy in Burundi. During her time abroad, she traveled in Jordan and Egypt and met her second husband, Robert “Bob” Mann. In November 1965, while working at the Embassy in Burundi and pregnant with her daughter, Sherry was evacuated during an attempted coup and airlifted to Fort Dix in New Jersey, where Katherine Irene was born at Walson Army Hospital.

Sherry and her family lived in Miami, Florida before returning to Illinois, where they made homes in Clarendon Hills and later Woodridge. In Woodridge, Sherry purchased her own home and raised Katherine with independence, strength, and devotion. She was a talented seamstress who enjoyed crochet, making doll clothes, and doing crafts with children in the family.

In 1982, Sherry completed the education she had begun at Northern Illinois University in 1954, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mundelein College.

Sherry built a long career with telecommunications research companies, Illinois Bell, Bell Labs, Lucent, AT&T, and Nokia. Prior to retiring to Tucson in 2001, she followed her love of books by owning a used bookstore in Illinois, which she sold when she left the state. Her relocation brought her near her parents in Tucson Estates, and soon her sister joined them to enjoy the “Arizona Life.”

In retirement, Sherry was active in her community, serving as President of the Sierra Villas North Homeowners Association.

In the early 2000s, Sherry renewed her love of travel, visiting Europe, the South Pacific, Africa, New Zealand, and South America. She also traveled with her grandson Noah during this time. On one memorable trip, she crossed an ocean by cargo ship, an uncommon way to travel at the time. Basically, she saw the whole world.

In 2008, following her mother’s passing, Sherry took ownership of the family lot, built a new home there, and continued enjoying retirement in Tucson Estates. This is when she joined the Southern Arizona Artist’s Guild, taking classes in encaustics and watercolor as far away as New Mexico.

In 2010 and 2011, she was a leading figure in the Occupy Tucson movement, making an impact on the lives of many seeking social justice. She even had the experience of being arrested for expressing her First Amendment rights.

After this, she set up her own in-home artist’s studio, and she played weekly Mahjong with friends in Tucson Estates. She survived and was vaccinated during covid with her sister and her niece Kathleen. They enjoyed many golf cart drives to watch the sunset together.

One of Sherry’s final outings was to a 2024 political rally where President Obama spoke. Wearing her jaunty red sparkly hat, she treasured the experience and spoke of it often afterward.

During her final six years, Sherry lived quietly at home, surrounded by the loving care of Kathleen, Sandra Jo, Leslie, Allison and a dedicated team of caregivers. Her passing was peaceful, with her niece by her side, holding one hand while her other hand rested over Sherry’s heart.

Sherry was preceded in death by her parents, Roy and Lorene, and her niece, Sandi Mauck. She is survived by her daughter, Katherine Mann Engel; her sister, Sandra Jo Anderson Mauck; her grandchildren, Noah, Brynn, Faith, Teagan, and Blythe; her two great-granddaughters; and her nieces and nephews, Kevin, Kathleen, Terry, Allison, and Leslie.

Sherry will be remembered for her resilience, independence, creativity, love of books, devotion to family, civic engagement, and willingness to live bravely across places and chapters of life.