Obituary of John Patrick Manley

John P. Manley of Peabody, MA, and formally of Medford, MA, and Fair Haven, NJ, died peacefully on Wednesday morning, October 1, 2014 at Salem Hospital in Salem following a short illness. John, born on June 18, 1920 in Winchester, MA, was 94 years old. He was the son of the late Patrick Manley, and the late Winifred Smith Manley, both of West Medford. John was the beloved husband of the late Joan Manley with whom he shared over 67 years of marriage. He was the loving father of Michael and his wife Jane Manley of Flemington, NJ and David Manley and his wife Nancy Shorter of Gloucester, MA, brother of William Manley of No. Chatham, MA and beloved grandfather of Laura Schlett, Jill Sandyck, Scott Manley and Christopher Manley; and great grandfather of Rebecca Schlett, Emma Schlett, Nathanael Schlett, Evan Schlett, and Tyler Sandyck. John grew up in Medford, MA and graduated from Medford High School and Tufts University with a degree in civil engineering. John met his much-loved wife Joan of East Haven, CT when they were both students at Tufts University in Medford, MA. On the evening they met, John had planned to go to the movies with some of his college buddies, when a friend asked him to go out on a blind date with Joan. John initially declined until he discovered that the intended date was with Joan Boyd whom he had seen while he served as a Chapel Monitor at the Tufts Chapel. He quickly changed his mind and went on the date with, in his words, “the best looking girl on campus.” Shortly after John graduated from Tufts in 1942 he enlisted in the service and attended officer candidate school. After being commissioned a second lieutenant in the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, John and Joan were married on July 13, 1943 in Syracuse NY. John served in the Pacific Theatre of Operations and served as an Engineer Unit Commander in the New Guinea, Leyte, Luzon, and Okinawa campaigns. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Philippine Liberation Metal, and a Presidential Unit citation. Their first son, Michael, was born in December, 1944 at McPherson Army Hospital, Atlanta Georgia where Joan resided with her parents eagerly awaiting the end of the war. After his discharge from the Army, John, Joan and Michael moved to West Medford. Taking advantage of a newspaper’s offer to returning servicemen of running job ads of twenty-five words for twenty-five cents, John soon started a successful business career in the Boston sales office of the Indiana Steel Products Company of Valparaiso, IN. Shortly thereafter, the family moved to South Braintree, MA, and then to Braintree. A second son, David, was born on June 24, 1949 in Weymouth, MA. In 1955, John left Boston to join the General Ceramics Corp. in Keasby, NJ as VP of Marketing. The family moved to Fair Haven, NJ where they resided until 1987. In 1965 John joined United Materials Corp., Middletown, NJ as Executive Vice President, and in 1967 he joined Potters Industries, Carlstadt, NJ as VP of Domestic Operations. Potters was primarily a manufacturer of high performance glass spheres for industrial and highway safety applications. In 1981 he became President of Potters, and in 1984 was named CEO. John’s experience gleaned from Potters along with his engineering background led to a fulfilling extracurricular career in highway safety. He served as Chairman of the Board of Citizens for Highway Safety, a Washington, D.C. based organization which sponsored the first White House conference on highway safety. He was influential in passing highway safety legislation in the U.S. and a number of other countries. He was given the accolade of “Mr. Highway Safety” by the National Association of Women Highway Safety Leaders and was honored by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association for furthering the cause of highway safety. When John retired in 1985, he and Joan maintained homes in Palm City, FL and Melvin Village, NH. In 2005 they moved to Brooksby Village, Peabody, MA. John had a great appreciation for the value of education and especially affordable education. He was recognized as a member of the Brooksby Village Egret Society for his contributions to the Scholar’s Fund and the Resident Care Fund. As a student athlete, John participated in baseball and football. In later life he enjoyed golf, tennis, ice hockey, square dancing, bowling, reading, travel and going to the beach. He was a former member of the Navesink Country Club, Middletown, NJ, Surfrider Beach Club, Sea Bright, NJ, Pipers Landing Yacht and Country Club, Palm City, FL, and Bald Peak Colony Club, Melvin Village, NH. John was a founding member of the Unitarian Church of Monmouth County (NJ). Funeral services are private. A celebration of John’s life will be held at a later date. Donations in John’s memory may be made to the Brooksby Village Scholarship Fund, 200 Brooksby Village Drive, Peabody, MA 01960.