Col Mann's "determination and courage" were so key to setting up aged care facilities for the Tenterfield shire that "it is quite possible" it wouldn't have happened without him at all.
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These were the words of council chief executive Terry Dodds in 2017, and today Mr Mann receives the Medal of the Order of Australia for his service to aged welfare for 30 years.
From 1989 to 2018, the Tenterfield resident led the community in establishing hostel and nursing home care under what's now known as Tenterfield Care Centre, so the aged and infirm could remain close to family and friends.
Among his many contributions, Mr Mann has been chairman of the funding committees for Millrace Aged Care Hostel and Haddington Nursing Home; president of the management committee; and chairman and director of Tenterfield Care Centre.
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The move to establish an aged-care hostel and a nursing home in Tenterfield began in the 1980s.
At that time, the health service was considering closing the aged care section of the local hospital, and relocating its patients to aged care homes away from Tenterfield.
Local and federal government funds, and community fundraising, allowed Millrace Aged Care Hostel to be established in 1991, then Haddington Nursing Home in 2003.
The umbrella body, Tenterfield Care Centre, is still community-owned, all members and directors volunteers.
"[Haddington] would never have occurred without Col Mann," councillor Bronwyn Petrie said.
"When I first came here 33 years ago, Col Mann told me, 'Anything that we want to have in Tenterfield, we have to fight for'."
