1947-2026
Randolph W. Mann, teacher, hair stylist, chef, hobby farmer, preacher, gardener, world traveler, author, husband, father, and gay movement pioneer began life in Dickinson, North Dakota. Born August 24, 1947, Randy showed a special spark of adventure and curiosity that lured him away from a modest cow town to a life half way around the world, and then back to the Midwest, always in a quest for new ideas, new activities and new friends.
Beginning with a Catholic education, Randy made a quick move shortly after graduating high school at age 17, to Montana. Reflecting in a 2017 interview with the Red River Rainbow Seniors Project, he said, “As an aspiring gay boy, I went right off to hair dressing school in Bozeman, Montana.” Following that certification he worked summers in a West Yellowstone resort salon.
He moved to Seattle, where he trained with Sheraton Hotels as a chef. But deciding his future would be in teaching, not hair or food, he returned to Dickinson State University to finish a degree with a double major in speech/drama and English.
As a DSU student he met Karen Swanson. They married, and while still students became parents to Kelsey. He returned to teach English at his former high school, but soon with Karen Randy took another leap—to a hobby farm in Iowa. For Randy, as an old classmate observed, “everything was an adventure. We were a true 60s generation. Randy had a personality that always brought people to him. He was good looking and he was fun.”
In Iowa he continued to teach high school and finished a master’s degree in linguistics from Iowa State University. He grabbed another opportunity for adventure. Randy and Karen were invited to become missionaries in Japan for an interdenominational Christian group. Ordained as a minister by the Oriental Mission Society, Randy, with Karen and Kelsey, set off for Japan.
This would become a defining time of his life. It was there that he came out for the first time as a gay man. After years of internal struggle, he said in the Red River Rainbow interview, “I just could not do the lie anymore.” His 19-year marriage ended. Karen returned to the States, to California. Randy stayed in Japan.
With intensive training Randy became fluent in Japanese. He moved to Tokyo from Nigata Prefecture, where he had been a missionary. He worked for Canon Co., and then in Fukui taught at Fukui Medical University as an English teacher. He also taught cooking classes. In 1988 he published his first book, in Japanese, Medical Terms and Expressions Everybody Uses. It became a long-term Japanese standard that still was earning royalties decades later.
And at a Japanese gay bar in 1994, he met someone new.
Yasuji Horita, from Ishikawa Prefecture, worked for a car parts company. He was younger than Randy by 18 years, but a relationship sparked. The two became partners during Randy’s long stay in Japan.
In 2002, after 17 years in Japan, Randy decided to return to the United States, to the Midwest. Yasu joined him in the move.
The couple settled in Fargo. But for Randy it did not feel like a “return home.” Reverse culture shock after so many years so far away brought Randy down, and he struggled to re-enter American culture. Randy drew on his wide background of skills to find work as a chef, first at the Hotel Donaldson, then at the Radisson. He and Yasu found a house on the old part of Fargo, on Sixth Street South, in December 2002. He began to reach out to the local gay community.
Randy’s academic background teaching English as a second language led him away from his work as a chef and back into education, this time at the Minnesota State Community and Technical College (MState) in Moorhead. In 2006 he joined the faculty to establish an ESL program. Yasu attended intensive English language courses before completing his education in North Dakota State University’s nursing program. Randy retired in 2014, after 45 years teaching English in a variety of venues. “He tirelessly invested in his students,” remembers Kelsey, “and spent more time correcting their work and giving feedback than most professors do."
Randy and Yasu came to play a prominent role in a growing local gay culture, part of a book club, the Rainbow Seniors program, and the Gay Mens’ Chorus. In 2004 Randy published Crème Brulée The Bonjour Way, a book of tested recipes that still is available through Amazon and other outlets. His knowledge and abilities as a gardener grew to a beautiful and meticulous landscaping of annuals and perennials around the house, and his service as president of the F-M Horticultural Society. He became a keen bridge player, traveler and camper.
“Randy just always had the courage to try something new,” remembers a friend. “He was friendly, affable, an extrovert that made every activity a little more fun for all of us.” Kelsey emphasized Randy’s love for travel. “He was an accomplished and passionate traveler who was always on the move,” she said. “Some of his greatest joys were cruise ship excursions, camping and road trips.”
In August 2013, just 10 days after the state affirmed the right of same-sex couples to marry, Yasu and Randy married in Minnesota—the first gay union in the community. Their marriage was featured on the cover of the Forum's Variety section.
Randy’s life was filled with good times but was not without challenges. Many of those were not self-chosen. After coming out he said he faced rejection from family and acquaintances who took years to find an understanding of Randy’s gay identity. And a struggle with congenital heart problems led to his first open-heart surgery shortly after his move to Fargo. By the time he reached his eighth decade Randy had persevered through two open-heart surgeries, several hospitalizations and serious loss of heart function. During later years doctors brought bad news, and Randy would respond, “tell me something I don’t know.”
On May 21, 2026, through many challenges and difficult hospital stays, Randy reached the end of life’s journey. He is remembered by friends and family as a creative, enthusiastic, courageous and fun-loving man who took his curiosity and spirit through a life of many facets that still shine for those of us left behind.
Randy is survived by his husband, Yasu; daughter, Kelsey Lane; granddaughter, Keira Lane; three brothers, Daryl, Rick and Derwin; one sister, Mona Hagfeldt. He was preceded in death by his parents, William “Bill” and Rose Mann.