DOUGLAS MANNESS

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DOUGLAS MANNESS July 16, 1918 - August 11, 2007 It is with deepest sadness we announce the sudden but peaceful passing at home of our dear husband and dad. Doug passed away at home with his dearly beloved wife, Vera, at his side and his daughter, Darcy. He also leaves to mourn his passing his two sons, Douglas Junior and Dennis. He had recently celebrated his 89th birthday. He was predeceased by his parents, several brothers and sisters and his little daughter, Ferne, who was one year old and died from pneumonia in 1950, the year of the Winnipeg Flood. Doug was born in Shanawan (Domain), Manitoba on July 16, 1918, the third son and fourth child in a family of ten of Charles and Anna Manness. Dad was just a boy of eleven when the Great Depression and Dirty Thirties struck. His family was forced to move many times all over the province to escape the drought conditions on the farm. Doug lived through a lot of poverty and sacrifice. Doug met the one true love of his life, Vera Erwood, at a dance, when he was stationed in Hamilton, Ontario. It was love at first sight. Vera always said she didn't know if she fell for his beautiful teeth or his dimples. Imagine a boy from the farm and a girl from the city marrying. Well, that farm boy and city girl recently celebrated their golden (60th) wedding anniversary on January 18, 2007. Doug served his country well during the Second World War, serving overseas with the Royal Canadian Army Service Corp and then as a reinforcement for the New Westminster Regiment, an infantry unit. He fought in Holland and was billeted in Neijmegen and Oosterwolde. And although he didn't talk much about the war, he always spoke highly and had great respect for the Dutch people. After the war and with the millions of servicemen discharged Doug had a hard time trying to find work. Being newly married, he took anything he could get. He worked as a farm manager, with MacDonald Douglas on sheet-metal, with the Maytag Company making washing machines, with Walter Woods and with Parrish and Heinbecker Farms, just to name a few places. Doug could turn his hand to anything, even building his own home in the Westwood area of Winnipeg in the early 1950s. But Doug was a farmer at heart and a good one at that. He LOVED the farm and raising his animals. He surely loved horses, too. He loved the county life and everything that was in it. Dad farmed in the St. Claude and Gladstone areas of the province, retiring from farming in 1974 and moving to Winnipeg. Doug worked for the Corps of Commissionaires for over ten years retiring at the age of 72. As he was never afraid of hard work and because he loved being in the country, he and Vera sold their home in Winnipeg and bought a hobby farm near Elm Creek that needed some TLC. In recent years, Doug was never happier than when he could take Vera and drive his S10 truck to different places in and around the city. He especially enjoyed taking jaunts along the West Perimeter Highway and looking at the crops being seeded in the spring and harvested in the fall. For the past ten years, Doug had lived with his daughter who had lovingly cared for her dad during recent medical emergencies. Doug was a kind, caring and loving man. He would help anyone if he could. He had a great sense of fair play, loyalty and integrity. He was a stickler for never being late for an appointment and because of his good eye we all knew who to come to to make sure pictures were hung straight. And because of his funny sense of humour and just the way he turned a phrase, he could get everyone laughing. Doug worked hard his whole life and did the best he could with what cards life had dealt him and he never complained. Doug was a remarkable man. No wonder men like him are known as being from The Greatest Generation . He will be forever lovingly remembered. Goodbye, my soldier boy. Rest in peace. Until we meet again. In compliance with Doug's wishes, no funeral service will be held. Please remember Doug as you knew him. In lieu of flowers, kindly donate to a charity of your choice. High Flight Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air. Up, up the long delirious, burning blue, I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or even eagle flew - And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod The high untresspassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand and touched the face of God. - Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee No. 412 squadron, RCAF Killed 11 December 1941 Arrangements entrusted to: Chapel Lawn Funeral Home 885-9715

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Aug 14, 2007