UPDATED: 12/14/2023
Please refer to the “Eastham Genealogy Information Project” link above.
Ella May (Eastham) Manson12 (1/21/1894, Harrison, Arkansas – 9/25/1983, Tahlequah, Oklahoma) Married (M1) Asa Manson (1/4/1888, Sarcoxie, MO -12/3/1938, Tahlequah, OK) May and Asa had two children:
i Anna (Manson) Grelle (4/9/1917-6/23/2005)
ii Frank Manson (12/26/1920-1/20/2005)
(M2) Elmer C. Reynolds(12/8/1891-8/11/1974).
Ella May is buried in Tahlequah City Cemetery next to Asa Manson.
Aunt May’s family has a rich and varied history that will take some time to flesh out. She lived with her first husband, Asa, for about 10 years in the Murrell Home in Park Hill, Oklahoma. Now called “Hunter’s Home” this structure is one of the very few antebellum houses in the region and has a rich history. At one time there was a barn on the property made out of walnut – that was later dismantled for that valuable wood. Asa was a county commissioner for six years, and was involved in an auto dealership in Tahlequah. Aunt May once told me that he sold “Whippets” – being a car guy, that name stuck with me and later I looked them up. They were made by the Willys-Overland Corporation, later of “Jeep” fame and sold from 1927-1931. One other source says Asa sold Pontiacs…but dealerships with multiple makes were not uncommon in those days. I hope further research will fill in more details.
ANNA (MANSON) GRELLE OBITUARY
BILL GRELLE OBITUARY
Fort Myers resident, William A. Grelle, died on December 8th after a long illness. He was 87. Mr. Grelle was born in Thornburg, Colorado in 1923 and grew up Logansport, Indiana. He attended the University of Indiana, graduating in 1938. He was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honorary society. During WWII, Mr. Grelle served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. He was responsible for establishing the Office of Price Administration for the Federal government. After leaving the Navy, Mr. Grelle attended law school. He received a law degree from the University of Colorado in 1949, where he was a member of the Law Review and awarded the Order of the Coif. He served the University of Colorado for almost 40 years as Director of the Colorado Municipal League and Assistant Dean of Continuing Education. While in Boulder, he was the Director of the Boulder County Planning Commission and was on the Board of Directors of the United Way. After retiring in 1982, Mr. Grelle and his wife, Anna Grelle, moved to Fort Myers. Most recently, they lived at the Marriott Calusa Harbour Retirement Center, where Mrs. Grelle continues to reside.
Mr. Grelle is survived by his wife of 55 years; son, David Grelle, of Austin, Texas; daughter, Cynthia Grelle McCabe, of San Francisco, California; and three grandchildren, Chris, Sean and Kyle McCabe.
Frank A. Manson
Frank served as a Lieutenant, U.S.S. Laffey (DD-724), U.S. Navy during WW II. He was on board the Laffey when they were hit by ” 6 ” Japanese kamikaze planes on April 16, 1945.
Lieutenant Commander Manson graduated from Northeastern State College, Oklahoma, in 1941, and taught in high school prior to reporting to Cornell University for Naval training. He served on the staff of ComDeslant and later was Communications Officer of the kamikazed destroyer Laffey in the Pacific.
frank a. manson obituary – washington post
Frank A. Manson Dies at 84
By Matt Schudel
February 2, 2005
Frank A. Manson, 84, a Navy captain who survived a fierce kamikaze onslaught during World War II and who later wrote histories of naval operations in two wars, died Jan. 20 of congestive heart failure at Culpeper Regional Hospital. He lived in Fredericksburg.
Besides his wartime experiences and his work as a Navy historian, Capt. Manson promoted the notion of using surplus Navy ships to spread goodwill throughout the world. A polished wordsmith, Capt. Manson gave voice to several of the Navy’s leading officers of the 1950s and 1960s, as speechwriter for Adms. Robert Carney, Arleigh Burke and John S. McCain Jr., father of the senator from Arizona.
His first brush with Navy history came during World War II, when Capt. Manson was a young communications officer aboard the destroyer Laffey. On April 16, 1945, the Laffey endured the strongest barrage of any U.S. ship in World War II without being sunk.
Accounts vary, but the Laffey was attacked by at least 22 Japanese airplanes. Eight to 10 of the fighter planes were shot down, but as many as eight kamikaze pilots crashed into the destroyer. At least two bombs also struck the Laffey, on which 32 sailors were killed and 71 wounded.
With fires raging throughout the ship, many of its guns disabled, its rudder jammed, its decks strafed by machine-gun fire and the destroyer’s stern under water, Capt. Manson approached the ship’s commander, Lt. Cmdr. Julius T. Becton.
“Do you think we’ll have to abandon ship?” he asked.
“No, Frank,” Becton said. “I’ll never abandon ship as long as a gun will fire.”
When Capt. Manson repeated Becton’s comment to reporters, it quickly entered military lore as a declaration of the Navy’s proud, defiant will. The Laffey limped to safety and became known as “the ship that would not die.”
After the war, Capt. Manson was assigned to the Pentagon, where he co-wrote two volumes of the official history of the Navy in World War II. During the Korean War, he traveled from ship to ship, compiling firsthand accounts. He was co-author of “The Sea War in Korea,” which was published in 1957 and is often considered the most authoritative one-volume history of the Navy’s role in that war.
On July 27, 1959, Life magazine published a cover story about Capt. Manson’s proposed “Great White Fleet,” praising him for a “bold, imaginative idea which could harness America’s productive goodwill and energies to help insure peace and combat the spread of Communism.”
In an accompanying article, Capt. Manson wrote that in December 1957, he was thumbing through photographs of World War II service ships, many of which were no longer active. As he drove home from his job at the Pentagon, “I suddenly thought: why not have an entire fleet of mercy ships — grain ships, hospital ships, education ships, power ships — a fleet designed to make the benefits of the free enterprise system available to the entire human race?”
The ships would be painted white “as a symbol of peace and helpfulness, even in the midst of war.”
The fleet never materialized, but Capt. Manson’s idea was further refined by William B. Walsh and led to Project HOPE, an international health and humanitarian effort that began with the 1960 launch of the SS Hope, a converted Navy hospital ship.
Frank Albert Manson was born Dec. 26, 1920, in Drumright, Okla., and graduated from Northeastern State University in Oklahoma, where he was a member of the debate and tennis teams. He taught high school history briefly before completing Officer Candidate School at Cornell University in New York and receiving his Navy commission.
A public relations officer for much of his career, Capt. Manson was chief of public information for the Navy’s Atlantic command in Norfolk. He retired in 1968. His decorations included the Navy Commendation Medal.
His other honors included the Alfred Thayer Mahan Award of the American Historical Association, the Public Relations Society of America’s Silver Anvil Award and the Commander-in-Chief’s Gold Medal of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
From 1969 to 1980, after his retirement from the Navy, Capt. Manson held high-level positions as an adviser on national security and international relations with the VFW, the Reserve Officers Association and the American Legion. In the 1970s, he was an anchor of the Manion Forum, one of the country’s first syndicated conservative radio talk shows. He also toured the country in the late 1970s, speaking out against relinquishing U.S. control of the Panama Canal.
Later in life, a grandson’s persistent questions about dinosaurs led Capt. Manson to write a children’s book, “The Adventures of Prince Albert and the Royal Dinosaurs,” published in 1990. He also wrote many articles and, at the time of his death, was working on a memoir, children’s books and works on military history.
Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Orie Lee Pickren Manson of Fredericksburg; three children, Frank Karig Manson of Raleigh, N.C., Jennifer Joy Wilson of Alexandria and Barbara M. Wilson of Hollywood, Md.; a sister; and 10 grandchildren.
Frank A. Manson was a combat veteran of World War II and wrote histories of Navy action in that war and Korea.
Written by: Matt Schudel
Matt Schudel has been an obituary writer at The Washington Post since 2004. He previously worked for publications in Washington, New York, North Carolina and Florida.
Orie Lee (Pickren) Manson Obituary
Passed away on March 14, 2006 in Alexandria, VA. She was preceded in death by her husband, Captain Frank A. Manson, USN (Ret.) and four children. She is survived by her loving children, Frank Karig Manson of Raleigh, NC, Jennifer Joy Manson Wilson of Alexandria, VA and Barbara Lynne Manson Wilson of Hollywood, MD; grandchildren, Albert, Gillian and Andrew Manson, Lynne and John “J.W.” Wilson IV and Zackary, May, Annabelle, Stephanie and Benjamin Wilson; step-grandchildren, Karn, Genevieve and Hillary Wilson. A Memorial Service will be held on Monday, March 26, 6 p.m. at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 2701 Cameron Mills Rd., Alexandria, VA 22302. Graveside services will be held on Monday, March 27, 2006 at 9 a.m. at Arlington National Cemetery. Arrangements by EVERLY WHEATLEY FUNERAL HOME.