Tom Mann
1932-2005
A family member
confirmed Tom Mann's death Saturday morning. Mann underwent
heart surgery at UAB Hospital in Birmingham on Monday. Complications
began after the surgery and Mann went
into cardiac arrest Friday night. He died around 8:00 PM. He was 72.
Chapman Funeral Home
in Eufaula is in charge of arrangements. Funeral services
will be held Tuesday, Feb. 15, at 2 p.m. at Calvary Baptist
Church
in Eufaula. Visitation is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday
at the church.
A memorial service for Tom Mann will be held later in the week,
possibly on Saturday. Other professional anglers and long-time friends
of
Mann are expected to attend.
Tom Mann put Lake
Eufaula in Alabama on the map. Two-time B.A.S.S. Tournament
winner, Tom Mann was named the "pro’s
pro" by
his peers on the tournament circuit. Fishing the B.A.S.S. circuit
for 17 years
and a consistent top contender, Mann competed in seven of the BASS
Masters Classic Tournament before he retired in 1984. While competing,
Mann held
the highest average among competitors.
Starting Mann’s
Bait Company in 1958 with an investment of $5.00, Mann and his wife,
Ann, labored arduously to build their business into
a thriving and successful company. As a result of their hard work and dedication,
the business had evolved into a multi-million dollar enterprise at the
time it was sold in 1979.
In addition to owning
Mann’s Bait Company, Mann founded and operated
Allied Sports Company from 1969-1983 and founded Southern Plastics in 1977.
As manufacturer of the Hummingbird Depth Sounder, Allied Sports became
a stock company and was renamed Techsonic Industries. The company is one
of the largest selling depth sounders in the world. Southern Plastics is
now the world’s largest private brand supplier of soft plastics.
Along with being inducteed
into the Professional Bass Fishing Hall of Fame in 2003, Tom Mann had
numerous other accomplishment
and recognitions including: founder and host of the Junior Fisherman
Tournament; edited and published the Junior
Fisherman Magazine and Tom Mann Outdoors Magazine. He hosted numerous television
shows on ESPN, TNN, Sports South, the Sunshine Network, The Outdoor Channel
and others. He has also been awarded the Dolphin Award, the highest honor to
be bestowed on a professional fisherman.
