Obituary for Jerry McManus

Jerry McManus
1937- 2016
For 27 years Jerry McManus has loved living in the natural beauty of Idaho. Flying, Snowmobiling, 4 wheeling, and taking in the beauty of the state with thousands of pictures. July 4th he left Idaho and this life earlier than expected at the age of 79 with many projects left to do and people to meet. He was always busy and optimistic. He embraced life with enthusiasm and generosity.
He grew up in Dixon, Wyoming, reading books with a flashlight at night under the covers late at night and later, farming and working the hay fields. During those years he came down with rheumatic fever which affected his heart and though told not to run, he characteristically did it anyway. Life was meant to be lived.
From there he went to Campion academy in Loveland Colorado (1956). At Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska, (1963) he received a B.S. in Chemistry and, as editor for the school paper, he interviewed Eleanor Roosevelt. He took a few years off from school to pay tuition, rebuild his triumph convertible, study chess and play go, before starting Loma Linda University School of Medicine (1967). It was there; he met and married Dr. Joella Anderson, while running between classes. In 1972 he graduated from the University of Texas Galveston Medical Branch with a specialty in Orthopaedic Surgery and became a father to Mark McManus.
As an Orthopaedic Surgeon he began his career at Rancho Los Amigos Medical center (1973) and Long Beach Naval station (1974), reserve rank of Lieutenant Commander, where he worked on stroke rehabilitation therapies. He started the stroke rehabilitation service at Loma Linda Medical Center and began a thriving Orthopaedic practice in 1978 with an emphasis on sports medicine. During this time he was also part of the MUMPS Development Committee, a medical programming language used to access medical records, which ignited a lifelong passion for programming.
In 1983 he married his second wife of 33 years, Julieta Saldana, and gained her son Anthony Rozales.
In 1988 he visited McCall and promptly fell in love with the beauty of the wilderness and place. The following year he left city life relocating his practice, wife, and mother to McCall to enjoy a life in the country. Then began his most fulfilling years when he was a flying doctor serving McCall, Graingeville Syringa, and Weiser Memorial hospitals adding Orthopaedic Surgery to their range of care. He enjoyed going out and getting to know the people of this region and helping them heal.
He retired from Surgery in 2003 to build a house on the Salmon river in Whitebird Idaho where he would garden, drill for water, and become part of a close knit community reminiscent of Dixon Wyoming. He spent winters in Arizona with his wife Julie. Up until his death he remained active with projects and keeping in touch with family and friends. One of his last projects was building walking bridges with hand hewn logs and the help of his 4 wheeling and snowmobiling buddies on his parkland property in McCall. Building bridges between people and new places were keystones of his life.
He is survived by his wife Julie, sister Cathy (Gage), sons Mark and Tony, and grandchildren Andrew, Ace, Ava, Lily, Namiko, and Ella. He was preceded in death by his parents John Verle McManus and Mildred Lily Pankey McManus.
Services will be held at the McCall Seventh Day Adventist Church at 2pm on Saturday July 16th to be followed with military honors by American Legion post 119 on his property at 13980 Comfort Road at 6pm.
In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Jerry McManus/Scholarship Fund payable to the Loma Linda Alumni Association, 11245 Anderson St. suite 200, Loma Linda CA 92354, (909) 558-4633.