Rosetta Joan Manley

Rosetta Joan (Brown) Manley passed peacefully from this life on July 29, 2022, at the age of 94. Her graveside services will be held in Beaver City, NE at Mount Hope Cemetery on August 4, 2022, at 2 pm CDT. It is respectfully requested that in lieu of any flowers, memorials in Joan’s honor be made in care of her family to be designated at a later time. Online condolences may be made by viewing Joan’s memorial page at www.bridgmanfuneralhome.com. Bridgman Funeral Home in Scottsbluff is entrusted with arrangements.
Joan was born in Beaver City, Nebraska, 17 February 1928, the second daughter of John Elsworth and Iva May Brown. She lived all her childhood on the farm in rural Beaver City, where she was graduated from Beaver City High School in 1945. After her graduation, she taught in a country school until her marriage to Paul E. Manley in 1946.
Paul and Joan left for California where Paul was serving with the U.S. Navy in Vallejo. They returned to Nebraska and settled in Holdrege until Paul became a state trooper with the Nebraska State Patrol. Their first move was to Alliance, followed by Sidney, and finally to Scottsbluff, where they resided for more than 50 years.
Joan was the mother of a growing family of four children. Her focus in life was on her family, even welcoming her widowed mother into the household. She loved looking out for her grandchildren as they came along and often did babysitting. She did her best to spoil them all. One of the family traditions was the Christmas gathering that offered wonderful food and great fun at present opening. The house would be so full of Christmas wrap from packages that you could not see the floor.
While Joan did not work continually outside the home, she did have a part-time job at the Grace Shop for a few years. She also volunteered time to work for the gift shop at the hospital, as well as volunteering time to various church activities and serving as an election judge.
Later in life, she would be traveling. She and Paul accompanied their younger son on at least two cruises. She traveled to Hawai'i twice, once to visit her granddaughter and family for Christmas and once at the invitation of her younger son. She loved taking road trips with her eldest daughter to visit in Dubuque, Iowa, and later Chicago. She did this for as long as she was able.
After Paul's death, she continued living in the family residence, carrying on with visiting with friends and family.
Joan is survived by her four children: Jean Starr of Chicago, Michael Manley (Cindy) of Lincoln, Susan Deal (Michal) of Gering, and Marty Manley (Brenda) of Gering. She has eleven grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Paul, her parents, sister (Martha Ruth Einspahr), and her grandson, Thaddeus.