Michael Mannerino

Whenever a customer walked into Michael L. Mannerino Jr.'s store, they knew they'd get good service. He would greet his customers personally, ask about their families, then help them select the perfect piece of music.

Mr. Mannerino's warm personality and expertise kept people coming back to Mannerino's Sheet Music in Mount Healthy.

"You were a friend, not just a customer," said H. Jane Gavin of Clifton Heights, a longtime friend.

Mr. Mannerino of Mason owned and ran the sheet music shop for 39 years before closing it in 2009, partly due to health reasons. He died Aug. 6 of cancer. He was 75.

Before opening shop, he taught music for 12 years in the Forest Hills School District. He also judged high school music competitions throughout Ohio and Indiana, raised five children and cooked a mean Italian sauce for spaghetti dinner fundraisers.

Mr. Mannerino grew up in Beaver Falls, Pa. He attended Carnegie Mellon University, then transferred to what was then known as the Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, where he graduated in 1957 with a bachelor's in music education.

He earned his master's in education from Xavier University in 1961 and taught instrumental music at Anderson High School before opening his store. His principal instrument was clarinet.

Mr. Mannerino had a warm sense of humor, recalled Gavin, who started her own career as a student teacher under Mr. Mannerino at Anderson.

"He was able to communicate so well with children," said his wife, Sandra L. Johnson-Mannerino.

A short man with glasses, he never tried to command a room with his presence, she said.

"He let other people have the floor," she said.

He was quiet and understated - something that helped people relate to him, including the students.

In addition to being a music educator and business owner, Mr. Mannerino was also a clinician and adjudicator for instrumental music contests for Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.

"He knew his craft so well that a number of directors would come to him when he was displaying music at the OMEA and KMEA contests. When he was in hospice they came and thanked him for his service and for helping them improve their skills in music direction and how to relate to the students."

Mr. Mannerino lived most of his life in Anderson Township and raised five children there with his first wife, the late Rose Mary Mannerino.

Mr. Mannerino would talk about selling sheet music to directors out of the trunk of his car in the early years of the sheet music business. He quickly found that he'd tapped an unmet need in this region.

He eventually opened Mannerino Sheet Music in a permanent location. His relationships and friendships with music directors throughout the region helped boost his business.

Mr. Mannerino's relationships, expertise and reputation for quality service helped make his shop one of the few family businesses in the region to survive after sheet music became readily available on the Internet, his wife said.

He required his employees to have music degrees.

One of those employees was his future wife. Sandra Johnson had a doctorate degree in musicology. Soon after he hired her in 2002, however, Mr. Mannerino, a widower, set his sights on making her his wife.

The couple married in 2005 and moved to Mason.

In addition to his wife, survivors include two daughters, Phyllis Green of Port St. Lucia, Fla., and Anna Marie Himebaugh of Cincinnati; three sons, Michael L. Mannerino, David Mannerino, and Mark Mannerino, all of Cincinnati ; a stepson, David A. Karsnia of Minnesota; two sisters, Jo Ann McDanel of Pennsylvania and Frances Pascotto, of Torrance, Calif.; four grandchildren; and two step grandchildren.

Visitation will be 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Annunciation Church in Clifton, 3547 Clifton Ave., Clifton, followed by a Memorial Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30.

Memorials: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center P.O. Box 5202 Cincinnati, OH 45201; or Hospice of Cincinnati, P.O. Box 633597, Cincinnati OH 45263.

By Jessica Brown; jlbrown@enquirer.com