William "Bill" Manifold

William H. (Bill) Manifold was born on July 2, 1921 to William C. & Rose (Holstrom) Manifold in Chicago, Illinois. Bill was the oldest of four siblings, brothers Chuck and Bob, and sister Marge.

They grew up in the days of street cars, ice delivery wagons, mumbly peg & marbels and the great depression. They lived with their paternal grandparents in Hyde Park in at least 3 different apartments and also a converted/abandoned firehouse. Later, they lived in a “shack” with no insulation on the outskirts of Midlothian with “good fertile soil for growing crops and canning.”

Bill graduated 8th grade with honors and had a year and a half of high school before leaving to help support the family. In his teens, he traveled to Idaho with his brother Chuck to work with the Civilian Conservation Corps. They made $1 a day and sent home $24 a month.

Bill wrote some of his memories for us:

“I was 20 when WWII broke out. I enlisted in the Army Air Corps and went through cadet training. Learning to fly PT-17, BT-13, AT-6, 9, & 10, B-25, and wound up as a B-17 pilot. I put in my regular day and then went to night school. It was a lot of hard work. I think graduation day was the proudest day of my life, standing on that platform and receiving my wings, especially when so many of the college graduates washed out.

I had a monotonous 9 hour flight across the Atlantic to Belfast, Ireland. I switched on the intercom and played my harmonica, while the crew sang along to pass the time. The next day, we flew to England where we were stationed with the 288th Bomb Squadron. Our first mission was aborted – cloudy, couldn’t see target. Our second mission was a doozy –the longest in the history of the 8th, bombing a ball bearing factory in Poznan, Poland. We encountered heavy flak over our target that knocked out 2 of our engines. The plane on our wing took direct hit and went spiraling down. I was on the wrong side, so couldn’t see if any chutes came out. We hit our target, but used over ½ our fuel. We couldn’t make it back to base and would have had to ditch in the English Channel. Instead, I had the navigator plot course for Sweden, where we were interned for 6 months.”

Back stateside, Bill took a position in charge of the photo lab at Marana Army Air Field in Tucson, Arizona. He left the Army as 1st Lieutenant. After the service, Bill took the GED exam to earn his high school diploma. He had been sending money home while in the service and used it to buy equipment and set up “Foto House.” He did portraits and some commercial work. This is where he met Fran (Scheidel), as her family lived next door to the photo studio.

Bill and Fran married in May of 1951. Together, they saved to buy property and built a house at 151st and Cicero in Illinois. With the foundation and framing done, they finished all the inside including electrical wiring, and plumbing. Bill started a job as a route man for Bowman Dairy. They started a family, had 3 of their 4 children, Alan, Peggy, and Jim. They also did some foster parenting during this time.

In 1962, Bill’s parents, wanting to retire, asked Bill and Fran to take over their business in Michigan. After 10 years of being together and raising a family, they sold their home and moved to Saugatuck. Buying the business from his parents, they were now running Pottawattamie Beach on Goshorn Lake. They had another son, John in 1964 and as a family, they ran the beach for 20 years.

During the off season, Bill worked several jobs. His first job was the late shift at Harris Pie and then later, at GE in Holland. He then worked 8 years at EE Fell Jr. High as custodian and was then transferred to Holland High. After 15 years of service, he retired as Custodial and Maintenance Foreman.

During this time, Bill kept busy with improvements to the beach, including building a new concession stand. They survived two “Pop Festivals” held on the beach property in the 1960’s

In his later years, Bill enjoyed collecting stamps, coins, model cars and any gadgets that piqued his interest. He was always learning and trying new things, such as becoming a locksmith, working with crafts and photography. He even tried rollerblading in his 70’s. He was a member of the Holland Coin Club and Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society. He loved working on the computer and exchanging emails with his list of friends.

Throughout Bill’s life he stayed in contact with his childhood friend, Justin McCrea. Bill was blessed with many friends, whom he stayed in contact via email and snail mail. Bill’s family sincerely appreciates all of dad’s friends and their contact with dad.

Bill was preceded in death by his son Jim, sister Marjorie Long and brothers Chuck and Bob.

He is survived by Fran, children Alan (Lori) Manifold, Peggy (Daryl) Manifold-Petsch, John Manifold & Rob Zeller; grandchildren, Hollie Manifold, Alysa & John Hoffman; great grandchildren, Kammryn & Spencer.

Memorial services will be held 11 am Saturday at Dykstra Funeral Homes-Saugatuck Chapel, 520 Lake Street. Burial of Bill’s cremated remains will be held at a later date. No visitation is scheduled.

Memorial donations may be sent to Hospice of Holland or the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society.