I recently received the news that John McManus passed away at the age of 89. Mr. McManus, known as Jack to many of us, was a long-time friend, former colleague, and mentor as well as an instructor at Camp Constitution.
I first met Jack at his John Birch Society office in Belmont, MA back in 1988. I walked into his impressive book lined office with my oldest daughter Rachel in my arms. He looked at Rachel and then gave me a stern look and said, “Some world we are leaving her.” Jack and I spent many hours driving around the highways and byways of New England where he would give speeches on a number of topics-a number of them aired on C-SPAN. In the late 1990s, I helped to host John at the Nashua, NH Library. We had a full house. During his presentation, he started to cough. I got him some water and walked to the podium as discreetly as possible to leave of the water. He looked at me and said “Is this water?” “Yes,” I said “I am Irish”, he replied. “I know that is why I brought you water” was by comeback. It got a good laugh from the attendees and many thought that we rehearsed the exchange. As an “old school” speaker, he would always start a lecture or presentation with a few jokes, and the video linked below is no exception.
He gave a lecture at out 1st annual family camp in July of 2010 and would attend many more over the next twelve years. His last camp was in 2021. A link to his class at our 2021 camp:
He will be missed but his rich legacy of liberty will live on and influence millions of people.
His obituary:
His Funeral Mass will be celebrated in St. Adelaide Parish, 708 Lowell St., Peabody on Monday, March 11 at 10:30 AM. Visitation for relatives and friends will be held at the McDonald Funeral Home, 19 Yale Ave., Wakefield on Sunday March 10 from 1-4 PM.
Born in Brooklyn, NY on January 24, 1935 he was the son of the late V. Paul and Dorothea Frances (Devenport) McManus.
Jack was raised and educated in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Brooklyn Prep, where he played varsity basketball. He went on to further his education at The College of the Holy Cross, receiving a bachelor’s degree in physics. He was a member of the Naval ROTC program while at Holy Cross, and upon graduating was commissioned into the United States Marine Corps. He proudly served his country as a Marine for three years. Upon concluding his military time, he went to work as an electronics engineer before taking on a position at The John Birch Society, where he would spend the remainder of his working years. Jack wore many hats at the John Birch Society from 1966 to the present day. He considered himself a teacher, and was a prolific writer and speaker for the Birch Society, though his most recent titles were President from 1991-2015 and President Emeritus from 2015 on. He was an avid Boston sports fan and dabbled in golf. Throughout his life he loved to swim in the ocean and especially relished such opportunity in his later years. He also enjoyed crossword puzzles, books, and history, as well as spending time with his children and grandchildren by the pool.
He was the beloved husband of the late Mary O’Reilly McManus, with whom he shared 65 wonderful years of marriage. John is survived by his devoted and loving son Paul McManus and his wife Margaret of Holden, Massachusetts, loving and devoted daughters Margaret (Peggy) Strauss and her husband Glenn of Wakefield, Massachusetts and Mary Anne Power and her husband Jeffrey from Wakefield, Massachusetts. Also son John and his wife Linda of Wakefield, Massachusetts. He was the brother of Mary Jane Strackbein and her husband William of Vienna, Virginia and the late Thomas E. and Paul D. McManus; and the loving grandfather to seven grandchildren.
His Funeral Mass will be celebrated in St. Adelaide Parish, 708 Lowell St., Peabody on Monday, March 11 at 10:30 AM. Visitation for relatives and friends will be held at the McDonald Funeral Home, 19 Yale Ave., Wakefield on Sunday March 10 from 1-4 PM.