Education was considered highly important in the eyes of John Mann’s late wife, Phyllis Marie Walsten Mann. 

Phyllis attended a one-room country school in Reno County. She completed her high school education at Hutchinson High School and then completed a pre-nursing program at the community college. In 1951, she received her bachelors of science in nursing from the University of Kansas, then was employed at KU Medical Center. She took a short leave of absence in 1961 to earn her masters of nursing from the University of Washington in Seattle.

Phyllis always emphasized nursing education. She was a staff nurse, head nurse, nursing supervisor, in-service education director and acting director of nursing service at KU Medical Center.

John and Phyllis were married in 1967 and moved to Martinsville, VA. Phyllis continued her professional career while nurturing relationships with patients and fellow staff.

Phyllis later served as the director of nursing program at Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville. Her career fulfilled her desire to shape and direct future nurses through education. Witnessing successes of nurses as they passed board exams and watching as a handful of them continued on to receive PhD’s is how Phyllis achieved the utmost satisfaction in her professional life.

To honor Phyllis’s love of nursing education, John Mann and his family dedicated a memorial at KU Medical Center. The Phyllis Marie Walsten Mann Endowed Nursing Scholarship was recognized by the dean of the nursing school with a banquet held on April 23, 2013.  The objective of the scholarship is to emphasize the importance of education. The recipient will exhibit academic merit and resemble Phyllis’s dedication to the nursing profession.