Robert E. Manning, a resident of Mahopac and Carmel since 1969, passed away on Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025, at the age of 97. He was born in Gloucester, Mass. on Jan. 26, 1928, and was the loving son of Peter Manning and Esther Blackburn Manning.
Robert enlisted and served in the United States Army during WWII. Following his military service and honorable discharge, he went on to earn his bachelor’s degree from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass.
Bob was employed by Sears Roebuck and Co. in both America and Central America, living for two years in Panama and 10 years in El Salvador before returning to the United States. While in Putnam County, he took a position with the Mahopac Central School District, initially as a school bus driver and custodian before retiring as an assistant business administrator for the district. When Bob was a custodian, he would often take his lunchtime to read to the kindergartners and as a bus driver he would give everyone on his bus a report card about their great behavior and asked to have it signed, even by their dog or cat!
Bob was a lover of all sports and was a lifelong fan of the Boston Red Sox. He was a catcher for a men’s softball team in El Salvador. His true passion though would shine through when he refereed and umpired high school women’s softball, volleyball and basketball all throughout Putnam and Westchester counties. He also umpired, on the weekends, for men’s softball leagues in Mahopac, Somers and Yorktown as well as for the Special Olympics. Bob retired from these passions at the age of 93.
Bob also spent time volunteering at Rosary Hill Home in Hawthorne, N.Y. He would do anything to help the residents, even reading the Chaplet of Mercy to those who requested it. While a parishioner of St. John the Evangelist Church in Mahopac, he took great pride in lecturing. He also helped with the counting of the collections and was an active member of St. John’s Men’s Prayer Group.
On Aug. 17, 1996, he married his love, Loretta Bachtig at St. John the Evangelist Church. In addition to Loretta, he is survived by his daughter, Mary Wheeler (Kevin) of Amenia, N.Y.; Loretta’s daughters, Laura Viscome (Drake) of North Carolina, Maureen Bachtig (Barry) of Connecticut, and Joetta Lisowski (Benjamin) of Fishkill; grandchildren James Manning and Ayden Robert Wheeler, Brittany Sanford, Joseph Lisowski, Drake and Gregory Viscome and Jacob Hammons and great-grandsons, Leo Viscome and Scott Sanford. Robert was predeceased by his first wife Joan and his sister, Phyllis Sinagra.
\ Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Tuesday, April 22, at St. John the Evangelist Church, Mahopac, with entombment at Rose Hills Memorial Park, Putnam Valley.
Family and friends are making donations in memory of Bob to Putnam Recreation for the Handicapped at prphny.org/about-us.
