Laurene "Laurie" Alda Manhard

It is with an aching heart that I share the passing of my beautiful, beloved wife, Laurene Alda ‘Laurie’ Manhard, after sixty-one wonderful years of marriage, on July 9, 2024. While Laurie’s leaving is a devastating blow, it was her time and through her last moments, she was surrounded by the love and prayers of her whole family. Laurie’s goodness touched countless people over the years, her joyous, sunny spirit, infectious smile and generous, giving heart lighting up not only my life, but the lives of her family, friends and even casual acquaintances for over eight decades. Born in Detroit on August 23, 1941, the daughter of Laurence L. Kortkamp and Madeline (Soper) Kortkamp, Laurie and I were high-school sweethearts, graduating first from suburban Detroit’s Bloomfield Hills High School in 1959 and then earning our college degrees from the University of Arizona in 1963. Married at Tucson’s Presbyterian Church in a beautiful sunset service a week after graduation on June 5, 1963, we embarked on life’s great adventure, which saw us blessed with two wonderful children – Chris, born in 1967, and Wendy, born in 1973. Those blessings were only magnified by both our children finding their own soulmates, Chris marrying the extraordinary Kelly Kathleen McKelvey in 1992, and Wendy marrying the accomplished engineer Mark Gibson in 2001. Laurie was born to be the ideal mother and grandmother, and her children and grandchildren are living proof of her amazing gift. Chris and Kelly’s three children, Matthew, born in 1995, Samantha, born in 1997, and Ryan, born in 2000, have already embarked on their adult lives, while Wendy and Mark’s daughter and son, Emma, born in 2003 and Ben, born in 2006 are still in school, Emma a senior at Chapman University and Ben about to attend Boise State University in the fall. ‘Grammy’ was as close to her grandchildren as it was possible to be, and we were fortunate to be as much a part of their lives as we were, watching them grow into the wonderful, loving young people they’ve become. While Laurie’s life was always centered around family, her interests were many and varied. She was an avid bowler from the first year of our marriage to the end of this year’s league bowling in May at age eighty-two. An excellent seamstress, Laurie would make not only her own outfits when were were first married, but made sure that as our children and then grandchildren grew, they always had fun, fashionable clothes sewn by her loving hands. For Laurie, reading her favorite authors or watching classic movies were a favorite way to relax, and if she was outdoors, nothing made her happier than being in the pool with the family. In more recent years, it would be just the two of us, simply enjoying a warm afternoon relaxing in water watching as hawks lazily circled over us on their glistening wings. At age 40, in addition to her other hobbies, Laurie renewed her passion for aviation, a love she‘d learned from her father, Chief Engineer of General Motors Cadillac Division, by taking flying lessons. In seemingly no time at all, she’d become an accomplished private pilot, flying family and friends all over Northern California and southern Nevada from San Jose’s Reid-Hillview Airport. As in everything else she did, Laurie displayed a natural ability and grace in the sky, and it was a joy to watch her as she took off on another adventure. If she wasn’t at the controls herself, Laurie was happy to let others take over, so once I retired, we were fortunate enough to be able to travel almost everywhere in the world, flying or cruising to places we’d once only dreamed of. As exotic as those ports and cities were, many of Laurie’s most cherished memories over the years were trips to Hawaii and Disneyland with our children and grandchildren, Grammy proudly watching her grand-babies growing into the special young people they now are. Fortunately, God granted us one last wonderful trip together in June, our 61st Anniversary holiday at our favorite Playa Los Arcos Resort in Puerto Vallarta, where we lolled in the warm pool waters, drank our non-alcoholic Piña Coladas, watched a week of glorious Mexican sunsets, and knew just how blessed we had been in our lives. From that day we fell in love so many years ago, ’our song’ has always been Bobby Darin’s classic ‘Dream Lover’, and Laurie will always be mine, so just as we said every night as we kissed before going to sleep, I say to her in Heaven now, ‘I love you a bushel and a peck’, knowing that she’s answering ‘And a hug around the neck.’ Pleasant dreams and sleep well, my darling. In addition to myself, Stephen Thomas ‘Tom’ Manhard, born May, 22, 1941, Laurie is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Chris and Kelly McKelvey Manhard of Corvallis, Oregon, their three children, Matthew C, Samantha C. and Ryan T. Manhard, daughter and son-in-law Wendy Manhard Gibson and Mark Gibson of Portland, Oregon, and their two children Emma M. and Ben H. Gibson. Together as a family, while we may mourn, we know that Laurie, a beautiful, loving wife, mother and grandmother, knows of our undying love and that she will forever be in our hearts.

Laurene "Laurie" Alda Manhard

August 23, 1941 - July 9, 2024