COCHITUATE: Martin "Marty" Manley, 89, passed away peacefully on Monday, September 23, 2019 surrounded by his loving family.
He was born April 6, 1930, in Stoneham, son of Blanche (McMahon-Manley) Stewart and Martin Manley.
He attended Stoneham High School, where he excelled in hockey along with his brother Dick. He also played in the Greater Boston Interscholastic League, and then for the Stoneham Shamrocks in the American Amateur Hockey League in the Junior Under 20 division. The Stoneham Shamrocks played the Sioux City Suhawks for the 1951 National Championship in Sioux City, Iowa, with Marty scoring in each period. The Shamrocks finished as the runner up.
Marty was a driven entrepreneur from a very young age. His father died before his birth in 1929, at only 24-years-old. While still in elementary school he caddied at the Stoneham golf course. He picked water lilies which he sold on the street, travelling by streetcar to Sullivan Square in Boston. He washed dishes in Boston at the old John Hancock building at night, during high school, and later served in the National Guard. He also pushed roller chairs on the Atlantic City boardwalk. He and his brother, Dick, formed Manley Tree Service together in 1949, working on the Cape and Islands as well as the greater Boston area, eventually each running their own business. Marty was a well known "Ace" pool player, earning him one of his nicknames. When young, many in the billiards world knew him as "Red", for his hair. He enjoyed horse racing, travelling with his wife and children, and collecting golf balls along the edges of golf courses, a habit he acquired as a child in Stoneham. He had a passion for dogs and always carried dog biscuits in his pockets. Marty routinely visited chained and fenced guard dogs known to him on the Cape and in Florida to offer affection and plenty of dog "cookies."
Marty met his wife, Kay, at the Rexicana Ballroom in Marshfield, when he finally got up the courage to ask her to dance the last dance of the night. They married in 1951 and lived in Somerville until 1955 when they moved to Cochituate with their growing family. He ran his company, Martin Manley Tree and Landscape, employing his sons and countless others for many decades - now in its third generation. All of his children worked on jobs for him in the summers from a young age. He has employed many people who needed a leg up during tough times and was very generous with his extended family, friends, and total strangers. Work was his greatest pleasure, and he only recently stopped. In the 1970s Marty began living and working in Ft Lauderdale, FL during the winter months, where he and his family made life long friends, just as they had on the Cape. Marty was a gifted story teller who delighted his young nieces and nephews with an evolving cast of characters and their escapades.
He is predeceased by his wife Catherine "Kay" (Impey), his sister Barbara (Manley) Trites, his two brothers Richard Manley, and Murray Stewart, Jr. Marty has one surviving sister, Ruth (Stewart) Cumming of Green Acres, FL, formerly of Cape Cod. He also leaves his children Martin Manley, Jr and his wife Janet (Gary) of Cochituate, Nancy Manley of Framingham, Paul Manley and his wife Sherry (Deaton) of Wilton Manors, FL, Jack Manley and his partner Marissa Avila of Wilton Manors, FL, and Gary Manley and his partner Judy Bandy of Pompano Beach, FL. He also leaves his grandchildren, Julie and Kelly Manley, Joe Manley and his wife, Elle, Justine D'Addio, Steven Armstrong, Caitlyn, Cati and Mikayla Manley and many nieces and nephews. Marty recently met his first great grandchild, Zane Yparrea, son of Kelly Manley and Matt Yparrea.
Visitations will be held on Friday, September 27, 2019 from 4:00 to 7:00 pm at the John C. Bryant Funeral Home, 56 Pemberton Road (off Rte, 30), Cochitutate Village, Wayland.
Family and friends may gather at the funeral home on Saturday, September 28, 2019 at 9:00 am followed by Marty’s Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 am at Good Shepherd Parish at ST. ZEPHERIN CHURCH, 99 Main Street (Rte, 27), Cochituate Village, Wayland.
Interment will follow in the Manley family lot in Lakeview Cemetery in Cochituate.
In lieu of flowers, if desired, donations in his memory may be made to Operation Smile, or any dog rescue organization.
For condolences and directions please visit www.johncbryantfuneralhome.com.