Ira Manning Parsons III

Ira Manning Parsons III

Sept 21, 1930 – Dec 1, 2025

Ira Manning Parsons III, known to friends and family as Manning and to his grandchildren as Bubby, was born in Baltimore, MD, in 1930. He attended Gilman School, St. James School, and Trinity College in Hartford, CT, graduating in 1952. As a boy he spent summers at Camp Pemigewassett and in Blue Ridge Summit, PA, where he built tents out of sheets with cousins in the yard of a rambling summer house. In his 20's he served in the Naval Reserve. Manning followed his father as owner and manager of the Parsons Company and T.W. Mathers and Sons, one of the last surviving department stores in the area as big-box companies moved in.

In 1963 Manning married Elizabeth Constable, and they had three children: Isabelle, Harvey, and Moby. They enjoyed many happy years in a house they built on the edge of an apple orchard on Shawan Farm in Cockeysville, MD, which Manning filled with music, laughter, and a touch of mischief. Summers were spent on Nantucket, MA, with Liz's large extended Constable family, a tradition that continued right up until this year. Manning's 95th birthday was celebrated on the island in September.

In 1993, Manning married Cynthia Riley Fehsenfeld. Over the course of their 28-year marriage, Manning and Cynthia were intrepid travelers, exploring nearly every corner of the earth, often with friends and family in tow. They loved visiting Cynthia's three children and their grandchildren in Washington and Rhode Island. They spent summers on Nantucket, MA, and in Salters Point in Dartmouth, MA, where Cynthia had grown up. They wintered in Naples, FL. After Cynthia died in 2021, Manning moved to Fox Hill Village in Westwood, MA, to be near his family.

Music was central to Manning's life. He sang with an a cappella group, the Fox Heads, and in church choirs, and could sit at a piano and play almost any song by ear after hearing only a few bars. He would serenade the family with carols each Christmas, with grandchildren clamoring onto the piano bench to sit next to him. Manning had extensive knowledge of pre-1940s music and collected more than 10,000 records. It was common to see him drumming his fingers while whistling a tune or tapping rhythms on any nearby surface. Manning had a remarkable memory until the end and could recount any story or detail from his life with precision. He was best known for his humor, making up characters, doing impressions, and finding comedy in the sheer ridiculousness of life. Being around him meant ending up in side-splitting laughter. His unassuming, self-deprecating nature became endless material for his own comic routines.

The secret to Manning's long life wasn't a careful diet, as he loved Pepperidge Farm Goldfish and Nantucket Pharmacy ice cream cones, but rather his determination to never miss anything. Manning and Cynthia, along with Liz and her second husband Kirby, were their grandchildren's greatest cheerleaders and would travel any distance to attend grandparents' days, games, graduations, and every other occasion, large or small. With Liz at the wheel and Manning in the passenger seat navigating with a AAA map, and Cynthia and Kirby in the back discussing Greek mythology, they thought nothing of driving eight hours to New England for a middle school scrimmage. The four of them became recognized fixtures on the sidelines. Manning's greatest joy of all was being with family. It went without saying that Manning and Cynthia were lifelong members of the Constable family. From weddings, birthdays, and holidays, to bridge games, Yacht Club tennis, and beach picnics, they were there for it all. The unique relationship was something truly extraordinary, and a gift to all. His best friend in the world was his younger sister Polly, with whom he spoke nearly every day for 90 years. A perfect evening for Manning was dinner from the garden at Linden Farm with the Nelsons.

Manning was a member of the Elkridge Club, Green Spring Valley Hunt Club, Maryland Club, Monterey Country Club, Nantucket Yacht Club, Wharf Rats Club, Hole in the Wall Club, and Naples Yacht Club.

Manning was predeceased by his wife, Cynthia. He is survived by his children Isabelle Loring and her husband Ian, Caroline Harvey Moore and her husband Michael, and Moby Parsons and his wife Yasmine. He also leaves behind his grandchildren - Eliza and her husband Jack, George, Nick, Tom, Will, Alexandra, Analiese, and Marc. He is survived by his sister Polly Nelson and her children of Monkton, MD as well as his first wife Elizabeth von Kessler of Wellesley, MA. He leaves three stepchildren: Thomas with his wife Janet, Kate with her husband Steven, and Alex with his wife Hillary, and eight step-grandchildren. A celebration of life will be held at a later date.