Raymond J. Manley
Age 86 of Minerva died Friday April 22, 2011 in his home surrounded by his family. He was born April 1, 1925 in Lisbon to Clyde and Stella (Gause) Manley. He retired from Summitville Tile. He is a founding member of St. Gabriel Catholic Church in Minerva and was a Third Degree Knight of the Minerva Knights of Columbus. He graduated from Augusta High School in May of 1943 and was drafted June 8 and left Akron for NTS in Great Lakes, IL. He was transferred to Hawaii and fought in the invasion of Saipan Tinian. During the invasion he worked on a landing craft that took men to the beach and brought back the wounded. They did not return to the USS Leon in time for them to sail and were left behind. They were stranded on their landing craft for three months. Nobody knew if they were living or dead. At the end of the three months they were shipped back to Hawaii and he was assigned to the USS Auburn at Pearl Harbor. He fought in the Iwo Jima invasion and was there for D-day. He arrived in Nagasaki, Japan just after the bomb was dropped and got to see all the devastation.
He is survived by his wife Wanda (Zwick) Manley who he married Nov. 13, 1948, three daughters; Karen (Chuck) Kopp of East Rochester, Christine (Robert) Phillips of Salem and Lisa Taff and Tom Marcinkowey of Minerva, three sons; Richard (Pamela) Manley of Key West, FL, John (Sheila) Manley of Groveport, OH and Brad Manley and Niki Bremberg of Sugarloaf Shore, FL, 11 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren.
Mass of the Christian Burial will be Wednesday at 10 am in St. Gabriel Catholic Church in Minerva with Fr. Victor Cinson as celebrant. Burial with full military honors will be in Dungannon Cemetery. Calling hours will be Tuesday from 5-8 pm in the Gotschall-Hutchison Funeral Home in Minerva. Memorial contributions may be made to the Alliance Visiting Nurse and Hospice Assoc.