MARTIN MANNING

February 4, 1942 to March 30, 2021

OBITUARY

Martin M. Manning, age 79, passed away suddenly Tuesday, March 30, 2021. He was born February 4, 1942, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Charles (Gene) and Olivella (Fielder) Manning, and lived most of his life in Trumbull County near Cortland.

Martin was a graduate of Cortland High School (class of 1959) and the College of Wooster (1963), later earning an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. He worked as a landscaper and had his own company for many years.

Martin was an outstanding athlete and played basketball and baseball at Cortland High. Later he played in the Warren Adult Basketball League as well as the Mercer-Crawford Counties AA Baseball League and the Pymatuning Area Wood Bat League until 2019. He taught at Bristolville High School and Youngtown State University and taught and coached at Lakeview High School, mentoring young Cortland athletes for many years after.

Precious memories of Martin live on with his loving wife of over thirty-five years, Donna (Mastrangelo) Manning, whom he married in August 1985; his daughter, Mary Anne Manning of Lakewood; his brother, Charles (Gus) Manning of Livermore, California; and his niece, Kate Manning of Varenna, Italy.

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Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

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REMEMBERING MARTIN

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As a 3-year-old, Martin watched his mother and new brother (me) arrive together from the hospital in an ambulance, on a stretcher. He was pretty sure I had made his Mom sick. After this auspicious beginning, we were not exactly soulmates, but we did everything together for 13 years until he was old enough to drive.

Living in the country for most of that time, we had lots of freedom, and used it to hike, ride bikes, camp, play sports, swim, fish, and get in trouble. Mom got a big iron bell from a farm sale, and Dad mounted it on a post outside the kitchen. In summer, she would let us out of the house after breakfast, and tell us: “Don’t go so far you can’t hear that bell, and when you hear it ring, head for home.” We could hear that bell for a few miles, so we had lots of rope.

There was plenty for kids to do within a few miles, and our property included 40 acres of open fields, 20 acres of woods, and two ponds. Under Martin’s leadership, with a few tools, we built trails, mowed grass, dug post-holes, nailed boards together and built huts and baseball fields. Many days, we just played ball with neighbor kids.

We played ball almost continuously. Martin and I made a vow to each other that we would continue to play ball as long as we lived. Eventually, we got more interested in basketball than baseball, and Dad built a basketball court with a basket at each end. We played our hearts out until we went to college.

After college, Martin came back and taught school in Bristolville and Cortland, so he kept playing with local kids who were still in school. He mentored many of these kids and helped them develop their skills. In summer when it was illegal for the school teams to practice, sometimes the high school coach would tell his players to go to Manning’s court, play with Martin, and do whatever he said.

Martin was a big homebody and never wanted to go far from home. He thought going to Wooster and Pittsburgh for school was almost too far to go. Donna and Mary got him traveling a little more when Mary went away to school, but he never made it to visit me in California. My California friends couldn’t believe I had a brother in Ohio who refused to visit California, so they called him “the legendary Martin."

Martin was kind of legendary to me, too. As a big brother, he seemed able to do what he really cared about, to focus on it, and to get better. When I was a kid, I followed him everywhere, even to college at Wooster. I learned from Martin that life is full of choices, and you don’t have to take the first path that is presented to you. Within the choices that are available, you can choose the path you prefer.

My brother Martin took the road less travelled, stuck to his guns, hardly ever harmed anybody, helped a few people, and he pulled it off for 79 years.

- Gus Manning

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