Roseleen M. Manley

"Palmer - Roseleen M. (Griffin) Manley, 89 , died peacefully on September 12 at Orchard Valley Assisted Care, Wilbraham. Born in the village of Bondsville, June 7, 1925, she was a daughter of John and Julia (Shea) Griffin. She was a graduate of Palmer High School and Springfield Hospital School of Nursing, now known as Baystate Medical Center, where her cousin Dr. Albert Keroack was Chief. She worked after graduation as a surgical nurse, "retired" to raise six children, and returned to nursing as a school nurse in the Palmer School System from 1975 - 1990. She was a former board member of the Visiting Nurse Association/ Hospice and was a long time member of the Quaboag Valley Quilters Guild. Rose loved knitting, sewing and quilting and many have been blessed with the beauty of her work. All her life, Roseleen was an especially kind, giving, and reverent woman who always said yes. She found time to help others, deliver casseroles, collect for charities, especially for the March of Dimes, who had helped the family when her husband and daughter were stricken with polio in 1953. She was lovely to look at, full of happiness, with a great smile, and a love of laughter. Athletic, like her husband, she skied before there were chairlifts, played tennis, pitched tents on a cross country camping trip with the family to the Grand Canyon, and she loved to swim. She was predeceased by her loving husband Kenneth Paul Manley in 2011, who cared for her at home until his death.She was cherished and will be deeply missed by her children, Ruth Campbell and her husband Scott of Martha's Vineyard, Ronald and his wife Patricia of Greenfield, Russell and his wife Jeannie, of Palmer, Timothy and his wife Petrini of Gainesville, FL, Robert and his wife Judy of West Hartford, CT, along with her 9 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren, cousins, nephews and nieces. She also leaves a sister, Alice Hixon and her husband Wes, of Greensboro, NC, and a sister in law, Lillian Griffin of Bondsville. Besides her parents and husband, Roseleen was preceded in death by a daughter Laura Manley MacKenzie (1995), a grandson David Scott Campbell (2013), and siblings Bernard and John Griffin. A Funeral Mass will be held on Wednesday, September 17 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Thomas Church, where she had been a communicant since the 1950s, followed by burial in Oak Knoll Cemetery. Friends may gather at the funeral home for 9:00 a.m. or meet directly at the church. Calling hours will be Tuesday from 5:00 -7:00 p.m. at the Beers & Story Palmer Funeral Home. For those wishing, memorial contributions may be made to Hospice. For more information, please visitwww.beersandstory.com"