Memorial services for Yvonne Lucille (Bergen) Manning, 86, of Washington will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 5, 2021 at the Wilson-Little Funeral Home Chapel, 127 S. Canadian Ave., in Purcell. Services will be under the direction of the Wilson-Little Funeral Home in Purcell.
Yvonne Lucille (Bergen) Manning, a daughter of the late Mary Jane (Sims) Bergen and Frank Alfred Bergen, was born on January 17, 1935 during the Great Depression on the family farm southeast of Avard, Oklahoma. She passed away on May 18, 2021 at her home in the town of Washington, Oklahoma (south of Norman, Oklahoma) at the age of 86 years, 4 months, and 1 day from ongoing complications of Parkinson’s disease which was diagnosed in 2008.
Yvonne was born into the Sims-Bergen family of thirteen children and grew up on the farm located south of Alva, Oklahoma (and southeast of Avard) in northwest Oklahoma. She attended Avard Public Schools throughout her school years and graduated as a senior from Avard High School in May of 1952. She was a fiercely competitive athlete on her school basketball team and also pitched for her winning high school softball team.
She maintained her love for athletics throughout her life and also coached junior high basketball teams for a few years as one of the few female public school coaches at that time.
She was married to Norman Eugene Manning in August 1952 and later moved to Alva, Oklahoma, with him to attend college at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. After his graduation from Northwestern in 1957, Norman and Yvonne moved to Kiowa, Kansas, where Norman taught social studies and coached basketball.
Later, with their three children, they moved to Great Bend, Kansas; Buffalo, Oklahoma; Leedey, Oklahoma; and then Guymon, Oklahoma, for Norman to coach and teach in the public schools there. In September 1971, at the age of only 36, Norman passed away in Guymon, Oklahoma, after a short illness from leukemia that was diagnosed only 6 months before.
Throughout her life, Yvonne worked as a homemaker and also worked part-time, including as a child-care giver, as an office assistant and as a school secretary, in various school administrative offices. In 1976, Yvonne graduated from Oklahoma Panhandle State University with an undergraduate degree in education and business administration and later would be awarded a master’s degree in education with a focus in business education and vocational education in 1982 from Oklahoma State University.
Throughout her 34 year teaching career as a business education, accounting, secretarial sciences and vocational education teacher, she taught many hundreds of students the business skills to achieve and excel in their lives and careers. She loved her students and she always pushed each student to fully achieve their potential in her classrooms and in their lives.
In addition to her teaching career, Yvonne had a life-long love of reading, especially thrillers and mysteries, and loved to sew, quilt and do embroidery, as well as growing a vegetable garden and taking long evening walks.
In addition to her parents, Yvonne was preceded in death by her many siblings, including Jim Bergen, John Bergen, Florene Rowland, Raymond Bergen, Hazel Lord, Opal Treece, Grace Chipman and four other sibling infant sons.
She is survived by her children and their children; her daughter, Lucinda Manning and husband, John Mingle, and their daughter, Emily Jane Manning-Mingle; her son, Monty Manning and his son, Ian Bennett, and wife, Elaine (Hamm) Bennett; and her daughter, Melinda (Lindy) Brewer and her husband, AJ Brewer, and their children Jace Brewer and wife, Holli Brewer; Marcy Brewer Tarp and husband, Trent Tarp; and Jeff Brewer and wife, Kendyl Brewer.
In addition to her children and five grandchildren, Yvonne is also survived by her eight great grand-children, Jax and Haven Brewer; Cameron, Ellis and Beckett Tarp; and Ash, Meyer and Posie Brewer. She is also survived by her younger sister, Dora Jean (Bergen) Watt of Oklahoma City, Okla., her large extended family from her eight adult siblings and by her many other relatives and friends.
Yvonne had a wonderful caring soul, a big heart and blessed her family with her love, laughter and kindness. Yvonne’s memory - Grandma Von to her grandkids - will be forever cherished by her family - her children, grandchildren, her relatives and friends and so many others in her community.
Information regarding memorial contributions in Yvonne’s name will be shared by the family later at the Memorial Services. Remembrances of Yvonne may be shared online at Wilson Little Funeral Home https://www.wilsonlittle.com.
Online condolences may be made at wilsonlittle.com.
