William McManus

1953 - 2014

William Robert McManus, age 61, passed away at home in Nibley, Utah, on July 15, 2014, with his loving family present. Bill was born April 21, 1953, in Detroit, Michigan, and was raised in Dearborn and Franklin Village, Michigan. He married Connie Johnson on June 20, 1987, and made her three children his own. They and his grandchildren were his greatest joy.
Bill graduated from Birmingham Groves High School, but his most enjoyable school years were at Graded School in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where the family lived from 1967-1970. Bill attended Michigan State University, where he earned a BS in microbiology, after which he earned an MS in mycology from Utah State University. After receiving his MS, Bill worked at Yerkes Primate Center at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, for one year where he also did work for the CDC on viruses such as Ebola and HIV. He returned to USU to manage the Electron Microscopy Facility in the Biology Dept., where he served the scientific community across disciplines. During this time, he was included as an author in refereed journals in food science, plant science, virology and others. His crowning achievement was a publication in Nature with Dr. Carol von Dohlen of the Biology Department at Utah State University. Later, for a short time, he worked at the Western Dairy Center on the USU campus.
Bill enjoyed the outdoors. Skiing, bicycling, fly fishing and sailing were some of his favorite things to do with his wife, Connie, and their children. He was a skilled woodworker and built several wooden boats and a bookcase, and did house remodeling. He was a dog lover. His Old English Mastiff, Smoochie, misses him as much as the humans of the family do.
Bill was preceded in death by his parents, Nathan Robert (Bob) and Ariel McManus; infant sister, Gail; and grandson, Kelton Brown. He is survived by his wife, Connie, of Nibley; daughter, Chani Brown of Salt Lake, and her son Austin; son, Nate McManus, and wife Rachelle of Ogden and their sons Preston and Carter; son, Andrew McManus; sisters, Linda Kennedy and husband Dave of Reno, Nevada, and Marilyn Hill and husband Gaylord of Adrian, Michigan.
Bill was a member of St. John's Episcopal Church in Logan, Utah, and served on the Vestry.
A funeral service will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, July 19, at St. John's Episcopal church, 85 E. 100 North, Logan. A time of visitation and support will be at the church on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. until the time of the service. Interment will be in Logan City Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts to the following organizations is deeply appreciated: Local NPR radio station, Doctors Without Borders, The Audubon Society and/or a local food pantry.
Funeral arrangements are kindly provided by SereniCare Funeral Home.