John E. McManus
The concise history of John McManus
by Anne Marie McManus
Frank and Marguerite
Dad was born on Christmas Day 1925 in Detroit Michigan. His parents met in Sherbrooke, at St Patrick's church, in what was then the heart of a growing English speaking community in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. His father, Frank McManus, grew up on the Cronyn farm outside Sherbrooke. He had been born in Vermont but his mother re-located the family when his father went off to the Southwest US to build railroads.
His mother Marguerite Codère spent much of her youth at the cottage which, for a time, was renamed Villa Marguerite. She recovered from tuberculosis (picked-up during nursing school) at the cottage. The story goes that she married Frank because it was the only way to get him out of the choir. By the time Frank proposed, his mother had made another important decision, re-locating the family to Detroit where Ford was paying able-bodied men to work in his factory. She had 6 sons and it was a good idea.
The Quebec Central Railway employees established
a Camp Comfort fishing club. The McManus cottage is part of the orginal
lodge.
From Detroit to Sherbrooke and Camp Comfort
John spent his first 8 years in Detroit with trips to Sherbrooke and the cottage. However, his father suffered from a heart condition and could no longer work as a tool-and-die maker. It was the Depression and his mother worked two jobs to keep the family together (nursing & playing organ at Jesu church in Detroit). His father did odd jobs. Concerned that my Dad had a poor paternal role model, he was shipped to Sherbrooke to live with his grandparents L. Edouard Codère and Josephine Dougherty where he spent the next 7 years.
John was grandpa's buddy, spending summers at Camp Comfort, just the
two of them mostly, with families coming out for their allotted two weeks.
He did the cooking and washing up. On weekend, grandma would visit, bringing
fresh linens, clean clothes and restocking the larder. Once Dad's legs
were long enough to reach the pedals, he was taught to drive. On the last
day of school, he would come home to find grandpa in the car saying "hurry
up Johnnie Boy" and that would be the last he saw of Sherbrooke until
school started again.
John was a King Scout. He tagged along with Uncle John (known to others
as Big John) when in town, carrying packages and chaperoning Uncle John's
many romances. Aunt Popsy taught him French. Aunt Mariah (Cyril's wife)
gave him much affection.
A career in radio communications
When he returned to Detroit at 15, he was anxious to enlist but his mother
made him wait. He did enlist at 17 and took courses in radio communications.
He served two years, all within domestic US boundaries. Using the GI Bill,
he went to University of Detroit and got a Bachelors and Masters in electrical
engineering, learning about vacuum tubes. When he graduated, he had two
job offers, one from Chrysler, one from Armour Research Institute in Chicago.
He took Chicago because his sister Mary had already moved there. Armour
Research because Illinois Institute of Technology and he worked there
for 25 years or so. He then moved to the Chicago Regional Transit Authority,
back again with radios & wiring. He said he enjoyed giving up the
management side so he could focus just on getting the job done. The job
change also brought a new hobby, programmable calculators and then, personal
computers.
Mary Cecilia Flavin
He met his wife, Mary Cecilia Flavin in the Catholic University Club choir. They married in 1954 and had 3 children, Peggy 1955 - 1982, Frank 1957 & Ann Marie 1959. My parents have always been active in church and community affairs. He was recently honored for 50 years in the St. Nicholas of Tolentine choir.
Social activists
They were involved locally in racial integration issues in the 1960s
and 1970s. With Mary Ceil's brother, they formed an umbrella group of
neighborhood organizations to protest red-lining and block busting tactics
by banks and real estate brokers. Their activism is credited with helping
keep the neighborhood stable as integration occurred.
He continued to visit Camp Comfort on a regular basis until 1970. When
Ann Marie went to Europe in the summer of 1977 and wrote a letter in French
to her grandmother, she promptly called Johnny and said "By golly
I've got a grandchild who speaks French. Put her in a car, she's taking
me to the Labor Day family reunion so I can show her off!" And yearly
visits by Ann Marie, Peggy and then Mom & Dad resumed.
They spend their winters in Chicago and summers at the cottage.
August, 2003