Bernard A. Manley

The Rev. Father Bernard A. Manley, Jr., 94, died Thursday, November 3, 2016, at his home at Pennybyrn at Maryfield, High Point. Father Manley was born in Asheville June 12, 1922. He was the son of the late Bernard A. Manley, Sr. and Mary Fay Collins Manley, and grandson of John Henry and Emma Hall Manley and Oscar Charles and Minnie Hampton Collins. He was also preceded in death by his wife, Mary Ellen Tull Manley in 1979, and by a daughter, Rachel Faye Smith, in 2014. He is survived by a daughter, Geraldine (Jerry) Mulder of Portsmouth, VA.; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He attended Orange Street and Claxton Elementary Schools and was a 1940 graduate of Lee H. Edwards High School. In June, 1941, he enlisted in the US Army Air Corps and served overseas with the 8th Air Force. He was discharged as a Senior Master Sergeant in October, 1945. Following discharge, Fr. Manley attended the Columbia Institute of Technology in Washington, DC, and came to work for the City of Asheville as Assistant City Engineer. In addition, he was appointed Chief Building Inspector and the first traffic engineer of Asheville. In the mid 1950's he designed the first "one-way" street system in Asheville, most of which are still in effect. Fr. Manley later joined the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce and retired from there in 1983 as General Manager. He was very active in civic affairs. He was a founding board member of Mountain Area Hospice, Quality Forward and the Asheville-Buncombe Community Relations Council as well as many other community boards. Fr. Manley entered the Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, CT in September, 1983, and in 1987, at the age of 65, was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Charlotte at the Basilica of St. Lawrence, Asheville. As priest, he served at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Charlotte and as pastor of St. William Catholic Church, Murphy and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Hayesville, St. Francis of Assisi in Mocksville, and as Priest in Residence at St. Eugene Parish, Asheville. He retired in 1996. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by The Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis, Bishop of Charlotte at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 9, 2016 at the Basilica of St. Lawrence in Asheville, Interment will follow at Riverside Cemetery. Reception of the body and a prayer service will begin at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday at Groce Funeral Home on Patton Avenue, after which the family will receive friends until 8:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Basilica of St. Lawrence, 97 Haywood Street, Asheville, NC 28801, to CarePartners Hospice, PO Box 25338, Asheville, NC 28813, St. Eugene's Catholic Church, 72 Culvern Street, Asheville, NC 28804, or to Maryfield Resident Care Fund, 1315 Greensboro Rd, High Point, NC 27260.