Joellyn Crapo Manning

Joellyn Crapo Manning, known simply as Jo to family and friends, passed away on October 12, 2023, at the age of 88. She died at home, surrounded by people she loved. Jo has left a legacy of love and faith that touched everyone who was blessed to know her.

Jo was born September 4, 1935, in Parker, Idaho, and grew up working with her parents, brothers, sisters, and extended family on their potato farm on Idaho’s East Bench. She learned to drive the potato truck when she was only nine years old and had to stand to reach the pedals. She graduated from South Fremont High School and often talked about how much she loved high school and her many friends there who called her “Red” because of the red in her hair. Red was her favorite color.

In her senior year of high school, she was one of two students recruited to join the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), but she declined the offer. Instead, she moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, to attend LDS Business College. She remained in Salt Lake after earning her degree, where she worked for the civil engineering firm Rollins, Brown, and Gunnell. She shared an apartment with two of her cousins across the street from the original KSL studios, and it was there she met Walter Eugene (Gene) Manning while he was working as a camera operator. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on March 12, 1958.

Jo and Gene spent two years in California and then returned to Utah, settling in Provo so Gene could earn his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Communications at Brigham Young University. Jo was a die-hard BYU football and basketball fan all her life. She enjoyed watching BYU defeat Cincinnati in the last game she was able to watch on September 29.

She worked in many capacities over the course of her life. She served as administrative assistant and bookkeeper for K-96/KOVO radio while Gene worked as general manager of the two stations, worked at Provo Craft for 16 years, served as an aide at American Leadership Academy, and finished her career checking in patients for mammograms and ultrasounds at the women’s clinic at Utah Valley Hospital for 10 years before she decided she was finally ready to retire in her early 80s. While many of her jobs were administrative or secretarial in nature, she was an artist at heart, and her job at Provo Craft enabled her to use her tole painting skills, which she loved. Friends and family over the years have been the recipients of many beautiful tole painted gifts that were the product of a partnership in which Gene cut out the wood and Jo painted it.

Jo’s life was a testament to the profound power of “small and simple things.” Her faith in Jesus Christ was simple and pure, and it sustained her through many deep trials and challenges, including the deaths of both her sons. Her joys and enjoyments were also simple but strong. She loved her home, her children and grandchildren, and her dogs. She enjoyed creating things with her hands, whether tole painting or diamond painting or sewing. She loved puzzles of all kinds. She loved nature and often commented on the beauty of the mountains, the clouds, or the sunset. She could never get enough cherry chocolates.

Jo was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and she served in Primary presidencies and Relief Society presidencies throughout her life, as well as a Relief Society instructor and a minister. She loved attending the temple.

Jo was preceded in death by her husband, Gene, and her sons, David Eugene (Cindy) Manning and Sean Patrick (Cathy) Manning, as well as her parents, Winford and Melvina Crapo, and her brothers, Lynden and Cary Crapo. We know there has been a joyous reunion with those who met her as she passed. She is survived by her daughters, Maureen (Brent) Warren and Shannon Manning, as well as her brother Tom Crapo and her sisters Diana Call and Karel Bassett. She is also survived by her beloved grandchildren–Kelsie and Jeremy Black, Alissa and Dave Holloway, Tacy and Cole Delgado, Derek and Kayla Manning, Chad and Amanda Manning, Jared and Cassidy Warren, Darin and Christine Warren, Kayla Warren, Lydia Warren, Jacob Manning, and Emma Manning–and 15 great-grandchildren, as well as many nieces and nephews who adored her. Her family was the delight of her life.

Funeral services are being coordinated by Walker Funeral Home in Spanish Fork. Jo’s funeral will be held Saturday, October 21, at 12:00 pm at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 50 South Main Street in Salem, Utah. There will be a viewing at the church from 9:30 ­- 11:30 am immediately prior to the funeral. She will be interred next to her husband and sons in the Salem City Cemetery.