Thomas Allan Mann, co-founder of the Detroit Mass Mob and a beloved community leader among lifelong Detroit-area Catholics, died Monday, Feb. 24, at age 71.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Mann is survived by his three children and 4-year-old granddaughter, and also leaves behind the countless Detroiters who could depend on Mann’s deep love for the city of Detroit, its history and, of course, its churches.
Mann was the driving force behind the Detroit Mass Mob, which began in 2014 as a way to boost awareness and attendance at different historic Catholic churches. Although Mann founded the group alongside Jeff Stawasz, Anne Marie Barnes and Anthony Battaglia, the group called him the “de-facto head of the organization,” in a Facebook post following his passing.
The group drew inspiration from the Buffalo Mass Mobs in New York, where area Catholics chose to attend Mass, en masse, at a historic church.
“The first one was just word-of-mouth and social media. Reaching out to friends. At St. Hyacinth, about 150 showed up in a 700-seat church,” Mann told Detroit Catholic in 2023.
According to Detroit Catholic’s reporting on the group in 2015, in its first year the Mass Mob visited 18 churches, with almost every event “attracting 100 to 110 percent of seating capacity." The added support for the host churches — which often see just a fraction of that attendance — resulted in millions of dollars in added collections over the course of the Mass Mobs' history in Detroit.
“Mass Mobs help people reconnect with Catholic culture in the city,” Mann told Detroit Catholic in 2015. “Detroit Mass Mob increases awareness and helps bring people back to these churches. We’re seeing more interest from former parishioners; bringing people back to church who have stopped or were attending less frequently. We now are seeing families getting together to go to church, two, three and four generations going together.”
According to the Free Press, Mann worked as a financial planner and was an active member of the Kiwanis Club of Detroit, but still found time not only to “do the lion-share” of work for the Mass Mob, but also founded and ran the Facebook group “I Grew up in 48205” — a group dedicated to sharing memories from life on the east side of Detroit.
One member of the group wrote that Mann was affectionately known as “Mr. East Side.”
Born in 1953, Mann attended Our Lady of Good Counsel and De La Salle Collegiate, an all-boys school on Detroit’s east side and remained an active alumnus even after moving to Warren in 1982.
Mann’s passion for documenting history was apparent in his love and affinity for photography — those who spotted Mann at an event from a Mass to a fish fry could depend on him having a camera in hand and would often find themselves in his photographs, which he always shared to Facebook.
Following his passing, countless memories and condolences from those who knew Mann well or in passing flooded social media. "His posts about Detroit, the church, etc. were always a bright spot,” one member of the “I Grew up in 48205” group wrote.
A memorial Mass will be held for Mann on Sunday, May 4, at St. Charles Borromeo in Detroit.
