Alice Mann

Alice Robles Mann passed away February 21, 2024, in her Los Alamos home of 60 years at the age of 93, with her beloved children by her side.

Devoted to family and friends, Alice stewarded charity and community.  She made Los Alamos a more beautiful, connected place.  Her model of strength and generosity will be missed.

Alice was born December 5, 1930, in Price, Utah to Albert and Antoinette (Gallegos) Robles.  After graduating from Carbon College, she joined the U.S. Marine Corps where she made lifelong friends and was stationed at Camp Pendleton during the Korean War.

Upon leaving the military Alice received her bachelor’s degree in Recreation Management at San Jose State University. She met Lawry Mann at a church dance in Monterrey, California where he was attending the Naval Postgraduate School.  They were married in the Los Angeles Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on May 28, 1956.

Two months after their wedding, a Navy assignment took them to Iwakuni, Japan, for two years.  There, Alice taught English, worked for Cathay Pacific Airlines, and immersed herself in the rich culture.  While in Japan she studied the art of Ikebana, Japanese flower arranging, which she mastered and integrated into her American way of life.  The Manns came to the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in 1958.  The family left Los Alamos in 1960 while Lawry worked at Boeing and attended the University of Washington in Seattle. After four years, they returned to Los Alamos.

Alice shared her love of gardening and floral arranging. Her expert floral arrangements graced countless weddings, church meetings and community events for decades. They were often gifts from her own garden that enriched these occasions. She strengthened many community institutions and associations over a lifetime by her own participation and leadership including: 

Chair of the Los Alamos Enshu Ikebana Chapter, hosting and attending conventions; Art in Public Places Advisory Board; and President of the Los Alamos Garden Club–which has tended the Rose Garden of Fuller Lodge since its founding in 1947.

Alice loved Christmas and her most cherished accomplishment was creating a creche exhibit in Los Alamos, gathering from friends and fellow collectors their uniquely crafted nativity scenes from all over the world to display in early December, as a Christmas gift to the community from the congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  What began in 1993 became an annual tradition that has continued for decades.

She was hired by the lab as an ambassador of goodwill to help scientists and families from around the world visiting or working at Los Alamos to feel welcome and to acclimate.  Alice traveled with Lawry to Sarov, Russia (the secret city) as part of the Sister Cities initiative which was championed by then-County Councilor Lawry Mann.  The Manns hosted many guests from around the world. Additionally, the Manns sponsored several community lectures by luminaries such as Sig Hecker, former LANL Director.

Alice and Lawry were recognized as Los Alamos Living Treasures in 2009 for their endless devotion to civic and charitable organizations.  Alice shall remain a treasure living on in the memory and hearts of her family, of many friends and their families, too.

Alice was preceded in death by her husband Lawry in 2017, and her three siblings, Betty Juliano, Albert Robles, Jr. and Stanley Robles.  She is survived by siblings Edna, Cyndee, and Jayson. C; daughters Jacoi Woolley of Santa Fe; Jocelyn Denyer of Albuquerque; sons Arthur Mann and Nathan Mann of Albuquerque; nine grandchildren (Alexander, Andrew, Halee, Lawry, Marcus, Maren, Tate, Prescott and Reilly); and one great grandchild Enzo.

Friends and family are invited to celebrate the memory of Alice Mann at a service on Friday, March 8, 2024, at eleven o’clock at the Los Alamos Chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1967 18th Street in Los Alamos with a reception to follow at Fuller Lodge.  Alice will be buried with military honors at Guaje Pines on Saturday.

Donations in her memory are gratefully suggested to the American Cancer Society.