Michael Henry Mannila

1952 - 2025

Michael Mannila
February 14, 1952 - July 16, 2025
Former Vale resident Michael Henry Mannila died July 16, 2025, in Bellevue, Wash. He was 73.
Mike was born on Feb. 14, 1952, to Hank and Elma Mannila, of Coos Bay. He attended Coos Bay schools, until the age of 13, when his mother died and he left Coos Bay to live with an aunt and uncle in Edmonds, Wash. When he was 15, Mike moved to Vale to live with the Gale and Roberta Dentinger family. For the rest of his life, he would refer to them with love and appreciation as his "foster family." He graduated from high school in Vale, and attended college and lived for many years in Boise, Idaho, before settling in the Seattle-Tacoma area, where he obtained his associates degree in computer science at South Central Community College.
Mike was brilliant and even at a young age, routinely beat friends and relatives at chess. One uncle, each time he visited, would walk in the door and say to his young nephew, "Mike, get the chess board." They played many, many times, and Mike always won. Throughout his life, he was cheerful, exuberant, curious and driven by a fierce loyalty to family, friends and his country.
Mike is survived by his daughter, Amanda Mannila, of Tacoma; sisters, Patty Patnode and Kathy Erickson, both of Coos Bay; his niece, Michele Elliott, Altus, Okla.; nephews, Kyle Patnode, Coos Bay, Joe Patnode, LaPine and Scott Erickson, of Ann Arbor, Mich.; and many, many friends, including his longtime best friend, Ronnie Patnode, of Bridge.