Doris J. Manlove

Doris Joanne Manlove (Hanson), age 92, of Prior Lake, died on Tuesday, February 13, 2024, while in hospice care at New Perspectives Senior Living. 

Joanie was born on July 24, 1931, in Pine City, Minnesota. Her family then moved to Cannon Falls where she grew up playing the piano and the organ, being a lifeguard and cheerleader, andassisting her father on buying trips for his clothing store.

 In 1954, Joanie married the love of her life, David O. Manlove, then a USAF pilot at Moody AFB in Georgia. As they both graduated from CFHS in 1949, they often traveled back to Cannon Falls from various assignments in Indiana, Tennessee, Kansas, and Texas, while family visited them at bases in France and England. Whenever David had a remote assignment (Korea, Baffin Island, Thailand…), Joanie brought her children back home to Minnesota, staying with her mother. Joanie became expert at moving; sewing and painting decors for her children to make everyplace home, participating in the wives’ clubs (becoming the President at Laredo AFB), playing piano and organ always, and finding local charities of interest (in England she was a leader in collecting clothing for Holocaust survivors). The family returned to live in Cannon Falls when David retired from the Air Force. They restored the home on 615Hoffman and painted the exterior air force blue, all while Joan worked as the legal assistant for the Johnson lawyers. 

Since that time, they moved to Hastings, where Joanie managed a HUD apartment complex, then moved on to the twin cities.Joanie and Dave spent some stretches of time living with their daughter in Cool, California and Colorado Springs, then living the RV life, caravaning with their son to Montrose, Colorado and Boulder City, Nevada before returning to Minnesota.Joanie’s favorite times were holidays and traveling days with extended family and friends and she was beloved for her gracious hospitality and delicious pies. For the Manloves, home and holidays were wherever in the world they gathered. Joanie lived the saying, “Home is where the heart is.” Her home was big. 

After David’s death in 2016, Joanie was diagnosed with vascular dementia and her son, David L. Manlove, became her live-in caretaker. Her daughter is grateful to have spent several months with both during the past two years. Joanie passed peacefully with her son at her side, a few hours after her daughter called to tell her she loved her. 

Joanie is survived by her daughter, Kristine Manlove of Saint Louis, and her son, David L. Manlove of Prior Lake,as well as several beloved nieces and nephews and their children. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her siblings, and several brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, as well as two nephews and one niece.

There will be a memorial gathering on Monday, May 13th, from 12:00 -2:00 pm, at Lundberg Funeral Home, 5839 Hwy 19 Blvd, Cannon Falls, MN 55009. Online condolences are welcome at www.LundbergFuneral.com.