Esther S. Manz was born on 22 October 1907 in Plymouth, Wisconsin, USA. She was married to Gilbert Manz. She died on 26 February 1996 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Was a 40-year-old, 208-pound housewife, pregnant with her fifth child, when a kitchen-table gathering in 1948 inspired her to found TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), a weight-loss support group that grew into a 300,000-member nonprofit organization.