Daughter of Wayne & Jeanie (Gray) Manning.∼Jill Manning-Fitzgerald, 38, of Doniphan died March 1, 2004, at home from complications due to multiple sclerosis. Services will be at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Ann's Catholic Church in Doniphan. The Rev. Steve Major will officiate. Burial will be in the Cedar View Cemetery at Doniphan. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at St. Ann's Catholic Church, with a 7 p.m. rosary. Apfel-Butler-Geddes Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements. Jill was born on Oct. 19, 1965, at Grand Island to Wayne and Jeanie (Gray) Manning. Survivors of the immediate family include a son and a daughter, her mother of Doniphan; and two brothers. Also surviving are her grandmother, Catherine Manning of Shelton, and numerous aunts and uncles. She grew up in Grand Island and graduated from Grand Island Northwest High School in 1983. She was an exceptional softball player and was a member of the 1983 Grand Island All Star Team. She furthered her education at Spencer School of Business in Grand Island. She lived in Grand Island, then Marquette for three years, and in 1996 she moved to Doniphan. She was employed by Pier 1 Imports from the time they opened until being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1996. She enjoyed making crafts and made numerous items for her friends, despite her disability, and also kept a beautiful flower garden. She was a member of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and was the 1999 Nebraska Multiple Sclerosis Mother of the Year. That same year she was selected as the National Multiple Sclerosis Mother of the Year and she and her children were honored by President Clinton in the Oval Office. She was preceded in death by her father, Wayne Manning; paternal grandfather, Henry Manning; and maternal grandparents, Oscar and Helen Gray.

submitted by Vicky Johnson