Anne Marie Donovan Mannion, 93

February 24, 1930 - November 18, 2023

Anne M. Mannion, age 93, of Columbia, Pennsylvania, passed peacefully into eternal life on Saturday, November 18, 2023. She was the only child of the late Anna (Zifcak) Donovan and Edward J. Donovan and was born in Torrington, Connecticut on February 24, 1930. Anne attended St. Francis of Assisi parochial school and graduated from Torrington High School in 1948. She was employed as a timekeeper at the former Fitzgerald’s Manufacturing Company in Torrington. Later in life, she rejoined the workforce as a receptionist in the medical office of Drs. Finn, Vanoni and McKenna for over 25 years.

For 35 years, Anne was married to the love of her life, the late Joseph A. Mannion, who came from a large family of five brothers and two sisters, giving her the extended family she had always longed for. Summers were filled with family picnics and winters with holiday gatherings with all the siblings and their many children, plus plenty of family outings to the Jersey Shore and vacations in Cape Cod and North Carolina.

Actively involved in her parish, she served as the President of the St. Francis Mother’s Club, organizing several bazaars and events. She also was a Cub Scout Den Mother.

Anne traveled widely. Trips with friends included Hawaii for her 25th wedding anniversary; England and Ireland; the Caribbean and Mexico. She traveled twice to Italy, and to France, Belgium, and finally, the Netherlands to meet her first great-grandchild. She joyously greeted her second great-grandchild earlier this year.

As a child of the Great Depression, Anne was always a frugal shopper. When she was buying an expensive jacket for her son Bill, she told the shopkeeper that there was a blemish in leather and asked for (and received) a highly discounted price. She also kept a well-stocked larder, and if something was on sale, there were several cans of it on the attic stairs.

Upon returning home from kindergarten one day, Nancy recalled her mom hugging her and telling her that there really was “a man in the moon” after John Glenn successfully orbited the Earth. A few years later, the entire family gathered to watch the historic moon landing. Anne always had a fascination with the stars and planets and was an avid reader of her daily horoscope.

Believing in fostering her children’s awe of the world as the most important job of a parent, she once sweetly talked the peacocks at the Bronx Zoo to spread open their beautiful tail feathers to the delight, and astonishment of Tim, who looked up at her in amazement: She could talk to the birds!

Left to cherish her memory are her three children: William E. Mannion and wife Angela, of Crossville, TN; Nancy E. Mannion and husband Fred Cluck, of Lancaster, PA; and Timothy J. Mannion, of Montclair, NJ; three grandsons: Kindoo R. Mannion-Vanover, of Colorado Springs, CO, and great-grandson Iam Mannion-Vanover of Pernis, Netherlands; Christopher J. Mannion and wife Jessica of Landsale, PA, and great-grandson Nikolas William; Matthew D. Mannion of New York City; and many nieces, nephews, and friends, including her life-long best friend Jeanette DiLullo Lozupone of Ellicott City, MD.
She was pre-deceased by her parents, her husband and one grandchild, Maurice Mannion-Vanover.

Friends may call at Charles Snyder Funeral Home, 441 North George Street, Millersville, PA on Thursday, December 21 from 1-3 pm.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Francis of Assisi Church, 160 Main Street, Torrington, CT, on Friday, December 29 at 11:00 am. Burial will follow, at St. Francis New Cemetery, South Main Street, Torrington, CT.

Donations: In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Benevolent Fund of St. Anne’s Retirement Community, 3952 Columbia Pike, Columbia, PA 17512. The family expresses its deep gratitude to the attentive and caring staff of St. Anne’s.