‘We shouldn’t be here’: Family, friends mourn Strawberry’s Ann Mannix and daughter Katie at San Francisco funeral
Family, friends, law enforcement and government officials packed St. Ignatius Church in San Francisco Oct. 23 for the funeral Mass of Strawberry resident Ann Mannix, a former deputy chief at the San Francisco Police Department.
Mannix, 65, and daughter Katherine “Katie” Mannix, 24, were killed Oct. 11 in their Strawberry home by Mannix’s husband, 68-year-old retired SFPD Sgt. Kevin Mannix Sr., who then killed himself, according to the Marin County Sheriff’s Office’s preliminary findings.
Richard Corriea, Ann Mannix’s brother, called the killings a “brutal, horrible act of violence.”
Corriea and Katie’s siblings, Lauren and Kevin Jr., described Mannix as a fantastic mother who supported her children in their struggles and made life more vibrant, on top of her accolades in law enforcement and her qualities as a friend and athlete.
Katie’s siblings described her as a smart and kind person who always looked to improve the world around her.
“We shouldn’t be here,” Corriea said.
Mannix, a Strawberry resident since 1989, joined the San Francisco Police Department in 1986 and retired in 2021 as a deputy chief, the department’s highest-ranking woman, The Ark reported when she retired. She earned a political science degree from Loyola Marymount University, where she played center on its basketball team.
Corriea, a retired SFPD commander, chronicled his sister’s life, from his first memory, the day she came home from the hospital Feb. 14, 1961, two days after she was born, to convincing their father to start making them sugar-sprinkled bacon instead of Spam, to growing up together.
“I’m blessed for that, at this time, at the time of her death, we were at a perigee: in contact daily and making time for seeing one another,” Corriea said.
Kevin Mannix Jr. recalled taking his mother to a San Francisco 49ers game in 2020. She kept thanking him for taking her to the game, he said, but there was no one else “on this planet I would rather spend a day screaming, cheering, high-fiving and hugging with.”
“The way she laughed, the way she wasn’t afraid to take a dig at someone, life felt noticeably larger and more vibrant whenever she was there,” he said. “What stands out the most to me today is just how much capacity she had to love so many people.”
Before the funeral a longtime friend recalled her readiness to help others.
Tiburon resident Marion Fitzgerald, The Ark’s contract bookkeeper, knew Mannix for more than 20 years after meeting her through their county tennis league team, the Lobsters.
Besides dominating the court with a “kick-ass serve” that was “not easy to return,” Mannix had “such a soft heart” and would do anything for her kids, Fitzgerald said in an Oct. 19 phone interview.
First impressions could leave others intimidated by her height or her uniform, Fitzgerald said, but when you meet her, “then you can see the softness she has inside of her.”
“She was always ready to help you out,” Fitzgerald said. “She was just a true friend who was there for you.”
Katie Mannix attended St. Hilary School and graduated from Redwood High School in 2020. She was pursuing a nursing degree from the College of Marin and was set to graduate in May 2027, according to her sister, a nurse herself.
Though Corriea focused his remarks on Ann Mannix, he said Katie embodied her mother with her kindness, confidence, forthrightness and beauty. He said he enjoyed traveling with her and admired her sharp wit.
“She will always be a little peanut to me,” Corriea said of his niece.
Lauren Mannix recalled her sister’s spunk, beauty, intelligence and kindness as someone who “always keeps you on your toes.” The moments they spent together were cherished ones that meant so much to her, she said, especially as Katie began pursuing a career in nursing.
Katie Mannix dreamed of working in an intensive care unit, her sister said, and would often ask her questions or seek advice on nursing matters.
“After all those years of thinking I was the lame millennial older sister, I loved being someone she could turn to, and it meant more to me than she probably ever realized,” Lauren Mannix said. “Katie would have made an amazing nurse, and we are all incredibly proud of her.”
Kevin Mannix Jr. recalled his sister’s love for arts and crafts and “these eccentric Katie-isms” that resulted: sometimes sewing, other times bedazzling items, one time even making a chess set.
“I think she just wanted to make the world around her more beautiful,” he said. “And she did, every day. And not just through her arts, but also through her radiant smile, her tender humor, the passion she poured into exploring everything that piqued her curiosity.”
Kevin Jr. told mourners that the memories people have and made with his mother and sister “aren’t going anywhere. Those are still with us, inside of us.”
He urged people to keep celebrating their birthdays, keep looking at the photos they’re in and “take their love and bring them with you on your journeys.”
“Smile when you think about my mom and Katie,” Kevin Jr. told mourners. “I promise they will be smiling right back at you.”
Reach Tiburon reporter Francisco Martinez at 415-944-4634.