Carl Keith Manherz (nicknames “Sliva” & “C-Man”), 57, was discovered in his home in Lowell, MA on June 22, 2024. He was born in Evanston, IL to O. Marilyn Emrick and Ronald Keith Manherz on December 20, 1966.
As a child Carl always wanted to be outside. When he used to walk to preschool with his mom, he would constantly pick up coins or trinkets along the street. One time he and his friend brought home enough wild grapes to make jelly (which over-boiled and stained the ceiling purple). He loved building from a young age: card houses, Lincoln logs, gingerbread houses, snow forts, tree houses, underground forts, etc. He even helped his dad build a large two-story storage shed which is still standing over 40 years later.
Carl was a graduate of Chelmsford High School, class of 1985, and went on to pursue a Manufacturing Engineering degree at Wentworth Institute of Technology. After working for a short time in the corporate world he decided he loved building too much to succumb to a life indoors. He then spent most of his life as a master carpenter framing gorgeous 6000+ sqft homes as well as the condominium complexes around Andover Country Club. He was very respected in his field and his coworkers would often rave to his sister about how intelligent and skilled he was calculating complex angles and curves. He was very talented and handcrafted several unique looking chairs as well. Carl was also extremely artistic and loved drawing. He collected bongos, drums, guitars, keyboards, and other musical instruments, too, and would often jam along to his favorite music. He loved skateboarding, roller blading, skiing, and snowboarding as well. He also enjoyed tinkering on motorcycles, go-karts, and cars and did an amazing job renovating and painting an old VW Bug. In addition, he loved all of his black cats and had a total of five over the years. So, if a black cat crosses your path, remember Carl.
Carl had a big heart, was sentimental, empathetic, and very trusting of people. He would often help out his friends or take homeless people in. He even buried a friend’s pets to spare them the pain. Recently his sister mailed him a case of Cheez-its and had it shipped to the hairdresser downstairs. He, of course, gave them a box when he went to pick it up. His neighbors described him as very nice, always smiled and said hello, but kept to himself.
In 2005 Carl married Gloria Lynne Sullivan Manherz. Despite only living together for a few years they separated and remained on friendly terms.
His sister Karen (Chad) Powell and her family also loved him dearly. He proudly displayed many photos of his niece, Ella, throughout his apartment.
Instead of a memorial, the family has created a Google Photo album to share photos online. Friends are welcome to add to the album if they want. The link is here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/twzeJqZJAeuxEvZz9
If anyone would like to donate money in his honor, he would be happy to know we remembered to include St. Paul’s soup kitchen: https://stpaulssoupkitchen.org/donate-online-to-st-pauls-soup-kitchen/
Until we meet again…….