John H. Mangels, retired president of a New York City freight forwarding company died at home Tuesday of heart failure. He was 89 and had lived at College Manor in Lutherville since 1988.

Services for Mr. Mangels were being held today at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Boyce and Carrollton avenues in Ruxton.

The New York City native retired in 1988 as president of the Atlas Forwarding Co., which he started in 1955 after working for many years in shipping for a New York textile company.

He had been active in Lutheran church groups in New York City and then in Ridgewood, N.J., where he lived before moving with his wife to the Lutherville retirement home.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, the former Margaret D. Meyer; two sons, William A. Mangels of Ruxton and J. Peter Mangels of Ridgefield, Conn.; four grandchildren; and a great-grandson.