Michael George McManus (1937-2019)

STRONG – Michael George McManus died on May 15, 2019 at 10:38 p.m. in his residence in Strong.

Born May 10, 1937, Mike had just celebrated his 82nd birthday with friends and family. After surviving his first wife, Peggy Ann (formerly Carlisle), Mike lived for many years on Miles Square Road in Avon with his second wife Jean, who had survived her husband Donald Richards, and now survives Mike.

Mike was born in Van Buren to Harry McManus and Annette McManus (formerly Michaud), and is survived by his older brother James (Jim) and his younger sister Lillian (Sis). His childhood and youth were spent working on potato farms, construction projects, and any odd job he could find, while enjoying fishing and hunting in the Van Buren and Eagle Lake area, especially with his brother, cousins, Aunt Bea, and Uncle Ned. He was drafted into the army and served in post-war Germany, after which he attended Farmington State Teacher’s College, worked in local mills, and was nicknamed Bobo. He met Peggy Ann Carlisle at college and married her. Mike became an important anchor in the Carlisle family, and was looked up to by Peggy’s younger siblings: Duane, Jimmy, Wanda, Suzy, and Lisa.

Mike was proud (and somewhat astonished) to have met the high standards of the U.S. Border Patrol. Mike was first stationed in Chula Vista, Calif., where Peggy joined him and where his first son, Thomas Christopher, was born. Mike passed the rigorous training for a scuba diving division and participated in many searches and rescues. Mike was later stationed in Jackman, where his son Joseph Michael was born in the make-shift hospital that was there at the time. Later, his daughter, Maria Denise would be born in Farmington Hospital. Mike was successful in the Border Patrol, rising to the rank of Deputy Chief after also being stationed in Calais, Houlton and then Havre, Montana. Mike was recognized with numerous commendations for bravery, including an award for entering a burning building to save a neighbor. And he was an innovator, devising a program by which the Border Patrol could benefit from seized vehicles. He was also beloved as a supervisor. One of his patrolmen once said, “When you call up the main office with a problem, they usually ask you all about what you did wrong to cause it. Not Mike. When Mike answered the phone, the only thing he ever asked was, “How can I help?”

After retiring from the Border Patrol at age 50, Mike moved back to Maine and settled in the Avon/Phillips area, working for many years as a property caretaker for George Appell. Recently, Mike marveled at the number of people now employed by the Border Patrol and noted that there are now 100 agents that cover the same region as he did as one man. Mike served on the Phillips Water District and was instrumental in transitioning the town to a new well-drawn water system.

In 1997, Mike and Peggy’s cherished only grandchild, Cashel Michael McManus O’Malley, was born. In 2003 Peggy died, and in 2005 Mike married Jean, and developed deep affection for her family: Jean’s daughter Jennifer and Dan Orcutt, her partner; Jean’s daughter Jessica and Dickie Beane, her husband; and Jennifer’s daughters Jean Marie and Hanna Piekart. Also dear to Mike were the spouses of his children, Lara Soderstrom and Dipak Chudasama.

Mike was known as something of a fashion plate, making daring summer fashion choices such as paint-spattered plaid shirts with buttons askew, swim trunks, and ankle boots with black socks. Mike’s frugal ways most likely made it possible for him to have the means to be generous with time, money, and humor. He quietly gave or loaned many family members the down payments for houses, or payed for education, or medical necessity. Mike DID NOT like onions, but you had to know him well before he would complain about them in food served to him. Mike DID like lobster, especially sucking on lobster bodies, after everyone else was done eating, with butter smeared in a two-foot radius around him. Mike loved the farm on Miles Square, the trout in the pond, the blackberries on the bushes, and the cucumbers in the garden.

A memorial service for Mike will be held in Phillips at the Congregational Church at 2 p.m. on May 25. Please no flowers. If you simply must spend money, please do something nice for a loved one in his memory.