Richard (Dick) Lee Manning

Richard L. Manning, aged 86, of Lowell, Vermont, died September 5, 2023, at North Country Hospital after a brief illness because of a fall at his home. At the end of his life, he was surrounded by the love of his caring wife and family and died peacefully. He suffered for many years because of his diabetes, renal disease, and CHF.

Richard was born January 10, 1937, in Morrisville, Vermont, to Richard Sargent and Thelma Manning. He lived with his grandparents, Morton Charles & Winifred Manning, in Fletcher, Vermont for many years. After finishing middle school in Lamoille County, Richard became a lineman at Hyde Park Water and Light Department. He spent a few years learning this trade before entering the U.S. Army in 1955. He was Army Airborne assigned to Company C, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, before being stationed with the 11th Airborne Division in southeastern Germany for almost three years. After completing his military service, he returned to the States and spent time in Wyoming as an oil worker. After a bit of traveling throughout the United States, the call of home brought him back to Vermont in 1960, when he met Gynette Leblanc at a barn dance. It was love at first sight for both (and a love of dancing), leading to their marriage in 1962. This event was followed by the birth of their first child, Douglas Charles Manning, their daughter, Julie Ann Manning, and their son, Shane Richard Manning.

Richard spent many years working his crafts as a lineman and electrician. In the early 70s, he started a trucking business called P & M Transport. He even made a journey into being a salesman, an occupation in which he was very successful, working his way to truck sales manager at Frawley Chevrolet and then continuing to sales with New York Life Insurance. He decided to pursue his private pilot's license in the late '60s, owned his own plane, and could utilize this as a division manager for the New England states for Penn Line Corporation, traveling back and forth between Maine and Vermont to work. He frequently brought lobster from the docks in Maine for dinner for the family.

A jack of all trades, he built several homes and, in recent years, his beloved barn, which allowed him to work on projects and hobbies at the end of his life. He did woodworking and even fabricated a trailer to transport materials. He loved football, western movies, playing cards, and Scrabble.

Richard is survived by his wife of 60 years, Gynette, by his son, Michael Solaris and his wife Beth; their three children, Katie, Jeremy, and AJ; by his son, Douglas, and his wife, Deborah; his daughter, Nicole Dean; by his daughter Julie and her husband, Col (Ret) Brett Nelson; their three children, Brittany Nelson, her husband Dr. Connor Balzer, Taylor Heaton-Nelson and her husband Eric Heaton-Nelson, and son Conner Nelson; by his son Shane and his wife Donna, and their daughters Dr. Molly Pepin, husband Jason,  and Hillary Chase, as well as his great-grandchildren: Liam, Lux, Sloane, Lana, Remi, and Sebastian.

Richard was blessed with a truly wonderful life, and his family will dearly miss him.

Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the Newport Ambulance Service, PO Box 911, Newport, VT 05855, or Lowell Fire Department, 2534 VT Route 100, Lowell, VT 05847.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, September 16, at Lowell Parish Hall, Route 58, Lowell, Vermont, at noon.