Anita Beth Patton Manning

Anita Beth Patton Manning, PhD left us to join her lost loved ones in the presence of her Lord and Savior on Monday, July 8th in the dawning hours of the morning. She departed comfortably and surrounded by her loving family, who already miss her very much.

Anita was a gentle, loving, and remarkable person. She loved spending time with people–both one on one and in groups. She was always happy to sit quietly as her family (and chosen family) were loud and raucous around her. She dearly loved traveling, decorating for Christmas, running, and “making a memory.” She was determined, adventurous, and appreciated the music of John Denver deeply.

Anita was born on March 14th, 1954, in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to Leonard Milton Patton and Beth Decker Patton (nee Beth Ailene Decker), both of whom preceded Anita in going to God. Anita grew up surrounded by love from her parents and her older brothers, Keith and Kaye. Although she was proud of her numerous personal and professional accomplishments, Anita’s greatest source of pride was the life she and her husband–Bob Manning (who left us in 2022)–created for their children. From the moment they met in the Wiggins United Methodist Church youth choir, Bob was immediately infatuated with Anita; although she was initially skeptical of dating a “younger man,” Anita eventually made the best decision of her life and reciprocated Bob’s affections.Anita was married to her best friend and soulmate in August of 1978 at the same church where they met. Among the wedding party were her brothers Kaye Patton (who has preceded Anita in death), Keith Patton (with wife Mary) of Denver, CO, and her newly-minted siblings Margaret Poeppel (Wolfgang) of Augsburg, Germany, John Manning of Bentonville, Arkansas, and Dorothy Ivey (Greg) of Gentry, Arkansas.

Anita and Bob moved to Colorado Springs two years later- they never left; it was “the only place they wanted to live and raise their children.” Anita worked mindfully and intentionally with Bob to provide a wonderful life full of learning, camping and outdoor activities, Broncos games, and most importantly, love for their two sons: Chris and Matt. Anita had close relationships with each of her sons, making time for each and meeting each “where they were”; she always felt that her most important role in life was to be a mother. The joy and love she felt from her role of mother grew as she finally got her desire of being mother to daughters when Amber married Chris, and Renee married Matt. She dearly enjoyed sharing in things like the Royal Wedding, books, and Christmas movies with her daughters. While the level of fulfillment she felt from being a mother was never surpassed, it was equaled with the new role of grandmother when her grandsons, Jack and Leonard, were born. She delighted in spoiling the two of them with cookies, gelato, and hugs, and the highlights of her day were often conversations with the two of them about soccer, taekwondo, or whatever happened to be on their minds.

While family and motherhood was the most important thing to Dr. Manning, her career was a close second. She was especially studious and was the recipient of bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Arkansas in the same town in which she grew up. Highly sensitive to the feelings, needs and emotions of those around her, she was a pillar of support for her many communities, and that was evidenced by the career she built as an early childhood school psychologist. Nowhere was that sensitivity and care so evident as in her work with the CSSP statewide crisis response team, which she founded in 1999. She started that career as a nationally certified school psychologist in D11 and D38, and later became Executive Director of Student Achievement Services in Cherry Creek School District, a position from which she retired in 2009. Somehow, in the middle of her career, she found time to simultaneously return to school and earned her PhD from the University of Colorado in 1992.

Dr. Manning took her calling as an advocate and representative for young children facing challenges extremely seriously; this dedication was noticed by her peers as she was the recipient of numerous awards. She was designated as one of the Outstanding Young Women of America, accepted into Phi Delta Kappa, nominated three times for the “CSSP Psychologist of The Year”before winning in 2002, and was elected as the CSSP President in 2003.

In addition to pursuing her professional passions, Anita remained equally dedicated to pursuits outside of her career; she was proud of her achievements in these fields, too. She and Bob turned their passion for fellowship and wine into the Learning About Wine (LAW) Club, which they founded eventually had multiple chapters.Despite not starting cycling until her late 40s, she completed Ride the Rockies, a demanding weeklong bike ride in the mountains of Colorado, on 4 occasions. But her truest passion was for distance running, which she began later in life, and she completed her first Portland Marathon in her 50s. She would run that race (in addition to many half marathons) two more times. But her favorite race was the Bolder Boulder: a race she ran more than a dozen times, including multiple times with each of her sons and once with her grandson.

More importantly, Anita had a deep sense of faith and she lived her life as a loyal servant and messenger of the Christian God. Feeling that spreading the message of God via music was among the most profound and important things a person could do, she was a devoted member of church choirs throughout her life and helped found Tri Lakes Music Association, a non-profit organization that fosters a love and appreciation of music in the greater Colorado Springs area. She also was involved in her church communities outside of choir, and was a founding member of both Wilson United Methodist Church in Colorado Springs, and Tri-Lakes United Methodist Church in Monument, serving in such positions as Staff-Parish Chairperson, Community Construction Liaison, and Administrative Council Chairperson in those congregations.

Unfortunately, Anita was called to fight cancer for decades, a fight in which Bob was her biggest cheerleader and supporter (despite struggling with his own health issues). She fought long and hard to be able to watch her sons grow up, get married, and to start lives of their own. She is survived by all her children and grandchildren, who love her now and always.

Anita will be remembered with a memorial service at Tri-Lakes United Methodist on August 3rd. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Tri-Lakes Music Association or the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Also, please honor Anita’s memory by making memories your family and friends: go camping, enjoy concerts, spend the day “garage-saleing,” travel somewhere new, or just remember to “stop and smell the roses.”