William Robert McManus

William Robert McManus, age 61, passed away at home in Nibley, UT 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, GA 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, a bookcase 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, UT; 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,NV, and Marilyn Hill and husband Gaylord of Adrian, MI. Bill was a member of St John's Episcopal Church in Logan, Utah, and served on the Vestry. A funeral service will be held Saturday, July 19, 2014 at 10:30 AM at St John's Episcopal church, 85 East 100 North, Logan UT. A time of visitation and support will be at the church on Saturday from 9:30 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.