Maureen E. Manning

Maureen E. Manning, age 91 of Bridgewater, NJ passed away peacefully on Saturday, March 11, 2023 at Bridgeway Care & Rehabilitation Center in Bridgewater, NJ. 

Maureen was born on September 9, 1931 in Norwood, NY.  She moved to Long Island as a teenager, graduating from Bayshore High School in 1949. She spent the next 18 months in nursing school at Crouse Irving Hospital in Syracuse, NY, where, on a blind date, she met her prince charming, Don.  She married her prince on April 7, 1951. Her beloved husband, Donald Michael Manning, passed away in 2000 after 49 years of marriage. He was the love of her life.

Maureen spent the majority of her life in upstate New York, raising a family and working outside the home as well, as a secretary for various businesses in the Poughkeepsie area. She has resided in New Jersey for the past 10 years and was enjoying her retirement years.

Maureen was a lifelong music lover.  At age 40, fulfilling a childhood dream, she decided it was time to learn to play music.  She took accordion lessons and learned to read music.  Following that, she taught herself to play the electric organ.  She spent many, many hours practicing and playing with her newly acquired ‘musician friends’.

She was also an avid reader and especially enjoyed historical fiction.  She loved to write, and, in her 80s, learned to use a laptop computer to write letters to friends and family because she felt her handwriting had ‘become illegible.’

She loved to travel America. Her multiple road trips west to visit National Parks and monuments were particularly impactful.  She would spend hours revisiting all her trips west with anyone who would listen.  One of her favorite trips was a cross country trip she took with her sister, Eileen in 1988.  They laughed about that trip for years.

Maureen was the daughter of the late Gilbert and Mary Shaughnessy Cardinal. 

She was a former member of St. Stanislaus Church in Pleasant Valley, NY and a current member of the Annandale Reformed Church in Annandale, NJ.

Maureen is survived by her son, Michael L. Manning and his wife Shirley of Ballston Lake, NY., her daughter, Patricia M. Lambracht of Annandale, NJ., four grandchildren, Kaitlin E. Lambracht and her wife Erin Hupal, Kristine M. Lambracht and her partner, Matthew Bucher, Brian P. Lambracht and Kara Rose Manning and two great-grandchildren, Gracelynn Cardinal Bucher and Charlotte Elizabeth Hupal. 

Predeceased, in addition to her husband is one son, William Manning and one daughter; Lynn Manning as well as four siblings; Edward Cardinal, Leo Cardinal, James Cardinal and Eileen St. Pierre.   

A memorial service will take place on Saturday, May 6, 2023 at 11am Annandale Reformed Church, 2 West Street, Annandale, NJ.  Interment will take place privately at St. Peter’s Cemetery in Poughkeepsie, NY. 

Arrangements by Scarponi-Bright Funeral Home in Lebanon, NJ.

Donations can be made to The American Diabetes Association or The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

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