Cathy Manning, 70, passed away peacefully in her sleep Jan. 9, 2012

in her Kalispell home from congestive heart failure. A celebration

of life was held Jan. 11, 2012 at Kalispell Senior Center.

She was born Feb. 9. 1941, in Livingston. Cathy was the third of

four daughters born to Mildred and Edgar McCulloch. Her early years

were spent at St. Xavier on the Crow Reservation before the

McCulloch family settled on a farm overlooking Foys Lake in

1948.

After graduating from Flathead County High School in 1959, and the

Art Institute of York, Pa., Cathy worked as a florist. She returned

to Kalispell in 1961 and became reacquainted with Donald Manning,

an old high school friend. They married on May 6, 1961, at St.

Matthew's Catholic Church where Cathy walked down the aisle wearing

a wedding gown she had designed and sewn herself.

As a newlywed, she passed a cold, dark winter in a small Alaskan

cabin, returning to the Flathead with a newborn the next year. The

Mannings made their home in Kalispell and then Columbia Falls,

where Cathy raised four children while Don ran a bakery and

doughnut shop. In 1977, the family moved to Sidney in eastern

Montana. There, Cathy continued her art education at Dawson County

Community College, gave art lessons and managed the office for

Don's construction business. They returned to Kalispell in 1987,

and Cathy worked a variety of jobs ranging from medical billing to

florist and housekeeper before ill health forced her to retire.

Cathy and Don marked their 50th anniversary last year with a

celebration that reunited family from near and far.

Cathy touched more hearts and inspired more lives than she'll ever

know with her kindness, courage, creativity and passion for life.

She never did anything halfway, whether baking dozens of cookies

for the neighborhood kids, gardening, quilting, handcrafting cards

and gifts, playing with her grandkids or sharing a hearty laugh

with her sisters and friends. Her passion was art. She left a

legacy of eclectic artwork, continually embracing new painting

techniques and styles. In her later years, she enjoyed both

attending and teaching art classes at the Kalispell Senior

Center.

She was preceded in death by her parents and older sister, Barbara

Austin. She is survived by her husband, Don, their four children,

Hank (Carol) Manning, Ann Kooistra-Manning, Mike (Lee Anne) Manning

and Janet Edwards, twelve grandchildren and her sisters Patt

Woodruff and Terry Glenn.