Marcella M Mignano

Marcella M. Mignano, 84, of Manhattan, passed away Monday, August 23rd at the Onaga Community Hospital in Onaga, KS. Marcella was born in Whitestone, NY on September 23rd, 1936, the youngest child of the late Edward V. and Marcella (McLaughlin) McEneaney. After high school in her hometown, she graduated from Ladycliff College in Highland Falls, NY. While at Ladycliff, she met a young West Point cadet and the love of her life, Bruce Phillip Mignano. They married on December 27th, 1958, and began the adventurous life of a young military couple. Five children followed as they moved around the globe from Kentucky to Korea, France to Kansas. During her husband’s numerous and often lengthy deployments to Korea, Vietnam, and Germany, Marcella managed her young family with a loving but firm hand. Never one to sit idly, Marcella enrolled in a Computer Programmer/Operator course at what was then the Manhattan Area Vo-Tech as her children busied themselves with the school. After successfully completing that training, she was hired as a Computer Operator at Sink & Gilmore Accounting where she worked until the empty nesters moved to San Jose, CA, and subsequently West Lafayette, IN. Everywhere Marcella lived throughout the world, she always found ways to volunteer her time and talents to give back to the community – educating school children on good dental hygiene (Ft. Riley, KS), leading a Girl Scout troop (Ft. Riley, KS), working for the Red Cross (Verdun, France, and Seoul, Korea), running the food pantry for St. Julie’s Catholic Church (San Jose, CA) and Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church (West Lafayette, IN), embroidering baptismal gowns, baking Eucharist bread, and hand-crafting macramé decor at St. Thomas More Catholic Church (Manhattan, KS), and working at the Mercy Hospital gift shop (Manhattan, KS). Her family was her life. She loved to get into shenanigans with her sister, sing with her children, and spoil her grandchildren with Dairy Queen ice cream, summer London Broil barbeques, and the money given for work that was promised but never actually completed - all while never leaving Bruce’s side. Marcella is survived by her husband, Bruce of the home; Jacqueline Carpenter of Henderson, Nevada; Gary Mignano, Theresa Boatman (Rick Boatman), Thomas Mignano (Kathy Mignano), and Mary Mignano, all of Manhattan. Also surviving are 16 grandchildren: Michelle Mignano, Erica Boatman, Anthony Mignano, Bridgitte Cheatham, Anna Mignano, Maggie Reed, Caroline Carpenter, Sara Boatman, Emily Boatman, Natalie Mignano, Ann Marie Schmidt, Nathan Mignano, Veronica Carpenter, Nicholas Mignano, Dominic Mignano-Sentongo, and Rachel Carpenter; and five great-grandchildren: Liam Reed, Layla Cheatham, Theodore Schmidt, Aiden Reed, with another Cheatham on the way. She is preceded in death by her parents and five siblings: Edward McEneaney, Charles McEneaney, Thomas McEneaney, Catherine Begley, and George McEneaney. A parish vigil will be said on Monday, August 30th at 7:00 pm at Carlson’s Irvin-Parkview Funeral Home. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Thomas More Catholic Church with Fr. Frank Coady officiating on Tuesday, August 31st at 10:00 am. Burial will follow the service at the Kansas Veterans Cemetery, followed by a luncheon at St. Thomas More Catholic Church. The family requests any donations be directed to the Dominican Sisters of Mary at 4597 Warren Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 or www.sistersofmary.org/give. To send a note of condolence visit the funeral home website www.irvinparkview.com.