Larry Mandt says his father, Bob Mandt, was the kind of man who treated everyone with patience and respect.
“He was a good man and truly treated everyone the same. From the owner of the team to the guy who swept the stadium, he spoke to everyone with respect and kindness,” Larry says. “Everyone would always tell me how great my father was, be it a neighbor, friend, or someone from his work. That’s something I learned from him—to be more patient and kind with the people in my life.” Bob Mandt was a longtime New York Mets executive, and worked with them from their inception up until his passing last year due to COPD.
“People just equated him with the team. Through his job he dealt with everyone—people at concessions, souvenirs, the cleaning crew, security, the team, umpires—and everything filtered through him. He was kind of their point man,” Larry says. “He touched so many lives and there were so many people that looked to him for guidance.”
Because of Bob’s 50-plus years of service to the Mets, the COPD Foundation, in conjunction with the Mets, will be honoring him and cohosting a COPD Awareness Night at Citi Field, Saturday, August 20, 2011. This night, the Mets will be playing the Milwaukee Brewers while spreading awareness for the third leading cause of death in the U.S.
“Anything that can help people and spread awareness—I’m for it,” Larry says. “It’s time to realize that smoking is a very unhealthy thing to do—and so avoidable. You don’t have to quit if you don’t start. I saw my father’s health become progressively worse and his quality of life was not that good.”
Norma Mandt, Bob’s wife, says he began smoking when he was 14 years old. “He smoked for almost 50 years and it certainly took its toll. It really didn’t become debilitating until the late ‘90s when he stopped.”
Bob and Norma met in 1964 when she became his secretary for the New York Mets. Three years later they were married. They have two children, Larry and Carolyn.
Norma says Bob loved his job with the Mets, and took on as much as he could while working there. The COPD Awareness Night is a bittersweet event for her because it reminds her of the struggle Bob went through.
“If people listen and get a message, and it helps people, then I’m happy about that,” she says. “As an original Met, Bob Mandt’s career touched the lives of thousands of fans and hundreds of employees, leaving an indelible mark on the franchise,” said Dave Howard, Executive Vice President, Business Operations, Mets. “By hosting a COPD Awareness Night, we aim to educate our fans about the disease, and help improve the quality and length of people’s lives.”
The Awareness Night will be held at Citi Field August 20, 2011 at 7:10PM. To purchase tickets for the event, visit www.mets.com/copd.
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