WCC Instructor Becky Mann Passes Away
Rebecca Comer Mann, wife of Pete M. Mann, of Barracks Hill Drive, Wilkesboro, passed away Monday, March 18, at
5:00 p.m. at Wake Forest University Medical Center in Winston-Salem. She is survived by her husband, Pete M. ’
Mann; two daughters, Jennifer Mann Lankford of Lawrenceville, Georgia, and Alison Mann Pipes of Wilkesboro; a
grandson, Austin Lankford; her mother, Jean Comer; two brothers, Tim and Terry Comer; and one sister Alcy Comer
all of Union Grove.
Mann was born May 22,1947, in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. At the time of her death, she was an English in
structor emeritus at Wilkes Community College in Developmental Studies. She attended Brevard College and re
ceived her bachelor of arts degree in English from Mars Hill College in 1969. She earned a master’s degree from Ap
palachian State University in 1987. Mann began teaching English and history at South Iredell High School in 1969,
and taught in the Head Start program at Booker T. Washington Elementary School in Louisville, Kentucky from 1969-
1972. She taught English in Wilkes County schools from 1986-87 and at Patterson School in Lenoir from 1988-89
She began teaching as a part-time instructor at Wilkes Community College in 1973. She became a full-time English
instructor at the community college in 1989 and was instrumental in establishing the college’s Computer Writing Cen
ter. In addition to her achievements on campus, she brought distinction to Wilkes Community College as an execu
tive board member of the NC Conference of English Instructors for many years and as a task force member in the
NCCCS Common Course Library development process.
Upon hearing of Mann’s death, Dr. Gordon Burns, president of WCC, stated, “It saddens all of us at the college deeply
to learn of the passing of Becky Mann. She was a most valued member of the college’s instructional team and will be
greatly missed by her colleagues and students alike. Becky was loved and respected by all who knew her, and her
death has affected our entire college family. She touched the lives of many during her years of teaching and her
memory will live on in the hearts of those she taught.”
Bud Mayes, WCC instructor and longtime coworker and friend, spoke of Mann. “Becky Mann was the consummate
teacher. She loved ideas, she loved learning, she loved teaching and she loved her students. As a person and as a
friend, she was a spirited and a joyful cohort. She was a joy to work with and to know. She had an infectious smile
and a keen sense of good-natured mischief around the office. She was a staunch defender of her ideas and had the
professional knowledge, skill, and patience to conceive and nurture programs of study that strengthened those who
needed her knowledge and guidance most. Becky was, like her beloved Greenway, a beautiful passage.”
Becky Mann’s supervisor in the Arts and Sciences Division at WCC was Blair Hancock, who reflected on her associa
tion with Mann; “I admired Becky immensely. She was extremely conscientious and totally dedicated to her students
and her profession. During her full-time years, she completely redesigned the developmental education program at
WCC and worked tirelessly to support the students and instructors in those classes. She updated the program and in
so doing increased the college community s awareness of the importance of effective developmental education for our
students. As an English instructor, she pioneered the use of collaborative learning in her classes and served as a