Longtime Westbank personality and behind-the-bar crooner K.G. Mance is battling prostate cancer. Mance was a regular feature at Chinatown Restaurant for more than 20 years.

A favorite with local children and adults alike, Mance is well known for his smooth singing voice and a penchant for impromptu renditions of blues ballads. Diagnosed with prostate cancer in May 2005, he has been undergoing treatment at the Veterans Administration hospital in Temple, with backup health services provided by a local outpatient clinic.

“He’s in a lot of pain and very, very tired, but he is hanging in there,” said Zipporah Mance, former wife and Mance’s longtime friend and companion.

Mance, who has no health insurance, just completed a five-day stay at the Temple VA hospital to combat kidney infection and complications with other organs. During the stay, his weight dropped from an already precarious 133 pounds to 120.

Mance said he is feeling better now than he had been feeling prior to the hospital stay.

“I’m not too bad, not too bad,” he said. “I always have pain. I do what I can. I try and do what they tell me to do. My lady and my friends, they push me.”

Those wishing to contribute financially to Mance’s battle against prostate cancer can make a deposit to his account at Woodforest National Bank, said friend Flo Small. To make such a donation, contact the bank in Austin at 892-0847 and identify the accountholder as Kenneth G. Mance, birthday Feb 8. Woodforest banks are located in some Walmart locations.