October 31, 1925 – September 11, 2021

Lolita “Smitty” Manring passed away on September 11, 2021 in the Aberdeen Heights Senior Living Facility at the age of 95. At the time of her death, she was six weeks shy of her 96th birthday.

Lolita is preceded in death by her husband Ralph C. Manring; parents Valentine and Gladys Smith; and brothers Paul, Ronald, and Gerald Smith. She is survived by her three daughters Leslie Saali (Phil), Jill, and Amy.

Lolita was the only girl in a family of four children from Mt. Carroll, Illinois. She became a tomboy out of self-preservation and that contributed to her love of the outdoors. She married Ralph Manring of Belleville, IL and raised three independent daughters. Lolita was an avid adventurer and loved gliding, hot air ballooning, sailing on the Victory Chimes Schooner and even tried her hand at parasailing and snorkeling.

Lolita had a great sense of humor, a beautiful smile, and an infectious laugh and everyone immediately liked her. She loved animals as evidenced by the raising of numerous baby birds, squirrels, and rabbits. But her first love were dogs. She had five loyal canine companions over the years and even helped Jill deliver numerous litters of pups.

Retirement years found her moving to Pagosa Springs, Colorado where she and Ralph built a log home in the mountains. Here she delighted in feeding the squirrels, racoons, mule deer, stellar jays, turkeys, and even the bears.

Lolita would tell you that she lived a long and wonderful life. Lolita had the opportunity to travel to South America, Canada, Europe, and Hawaii. Ralph and Lolita spent 5 years in Brazil where she developed a love of samba music and soccer. Whenever Brazil played in the World Cup you could find Lolita in her bright gold and green soccer shirt cheering the team on.

Special thanks to the nurses and staff at Aberdeen Heights who took such wonderful care of “Lolo” during her last years in The Glen.

A celebration of life ceremony is planned for October 23, 2021 at the Glendale Presbyterian Church, 500 North Sappington Road, Glendale, MO. at 11:00 a.m. If unable to attend, you can still be part of the service which will be live streamed.

Glendale Presbyterian Church is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Lolita Manring Memorial Service Livestream
Time: Oct 23, 2021 11:00 AM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 832 0488 4141
Passcode: 070504
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In Lieu of flowers, please consider donating to your local animal shelter.