Edward John Mann

My father was the middle of three sons and the second youngest child of John and Katherine (Bruch) Mann. He was born at Vanguard, Saskatchewan but grew up and farmed at Lemberg, Saskatchewan.

He was very involved in Lions International, Softball Saskatchewan and many other local initiatives. He and his younger brother Robert had exceptional singing voices. They performed solos and duets in local productions; they sang at weddings, funerals and other special occasions.

Dad died after battling leukemia for almost 3 years. He did all the crop spraying on his and his brother's farms from the mid 1950's until 1990. No precautions were taken to protect the applicator's health - no protective clothing, no respirators; for many years no information was available on the health risks of exposure to pesticides & herbicides. He spoke of the common practice of immersing a bare arm while holding a stick, in a sprayer tank of 2,4-d or other chemicals and water. That was how the chemicals were mixed. Meals were often eaten in the fields, without proper washing of hands, arms and faces. He and other farmers routinely drove through clouds of wind drift chemicals while circling the fields, inhaling the drift and getting it all over their bodies. What a price to pay for growing food!

• Updated from Find A Grave Memorial via father John Martin Mann, Jr by SmartCopy: Feb 21 2015, 6:58:55 UTC
• Updated from Find A Grave Memorial by SmartCopy: Feb 21 2015, 14:18:38 UTC