Led steelmaker and overhaul of Carnegie library, music hall
William “Bill” Manby was the kind of man who saw the seemingly impossible as a challenge waiting to be conquered.
Not only did he rise from the position of mail boy to president of a local steelmaker, Mr. Manby spearheaded $12 million in fundraising for a major overhaul of the 122-year-old Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall, which had been all but written off because of decades of decay and deterioration.
“We are so forever in his debt,” said Maggie Forbes, executive director of the library and music hall, a beaux-arts building in Carnegie. “Bill was at the heart of all of it, and it took real determination to do what he did.”
Mr. Manby, of the Nevillewood neighborhood in Collier, died March 19 of complications from a fall in Venice, Fla., where he and his wife had a winter home. He was 87.
The son of an English immigrant who came to the U.S. aboard the RMS Lusitania, Mr. Manby grew up in Carnegie, where he spent countless hours playing basketball at the local Boys & Girls Club and delivered newspapers to some interesting
customers — including Pirates legend Honus Wagner.
He played football at Carnegie High School, where he also was a standout member of the school’s double quartet, said family members.
“He loved music,” said his daughter Leslie Cunningham, of Mt. Lebanon. “He was always the official family singer, too. Every Christmas, our whole family — 40 of us — gathered for Christmas carols, and my dad led us. We sang every single one.”
When he graduated from high school in 1951, the ceremony was held at the library and music hall, which for many years also doubled as an auditorium and even a sports facility for the high school.
At 17, Mr. Manby met Georgia Heimberger at
Canadohta Lake in Crawford County, where their families had summer cottages.
The couple married July 7, 1959.
After high school, Mr. Manby studied business at the University of Pittsburgh and went to work at Columbia Steel in Rosslyn Farms, where “he was the mail boy,” his daughter said.
In 1957, he joined the Army and served for two years as a line of duty investigator at the Army’s 9th General Hospital in Heidelberg, Germany.
When he returned from military service, Mr. Manby quickly climbed the ranks at the company, which was acquired in 1968 by Teledyne Inc. Thereafter, it was called Teledyne Columbia-Summerill.
By 1979, he was named president of the company.
“He was not pretentious, he just worked hard,” his daughter said. “He made people feel so good; he was always smiling and never in a bad mood.”
A family man in the truest sense, Mr. Manby turned down a better job in California rather than upsetting his family, recalled his daughter.
“He came home one day, so excited about being offered this huge opportunity, but we all started crying so he turned it down,” said Ms.
Cunningham, who said she and her siblings were loath to leave their school and circle of friends.
Despite his best efforts to keep it afloat, the company shuttered in 1990, and Mr. Manby retired.
Throughout his life, he was equally devoted to the Church of the Atonement in Carnegie — which his parents helped to build — and his community, even when giving wasn’t always easy.
“My dad felt that a certain amount of money always had to go to the church and he always saved money, too, so when we moved into a new house we didn’t have new furniture in our living room for about a year,” his daughter said.
After his retirement, Mr. Manby shared his time, resources and expertise with the community, serving on the Chartiers Valley Industrial Development Authority, as a volunteer at St. Clair Hospital, and as president of the local Boys & Girls Club.
“They called him ‘Uncle Bill’ at the Boys & Girls Club and he would tell them stories that he told us growing up,” his daughter said. “He made up stories with us in them and told them over and over again.”
Her father had a wonderful sense of humor, playing Santa Claus with his velvet, bespoke suit, Ms. Cunningham recalled. Even last year, he donned the suit for his grandchildren for one final show.
“He looked exactly like Santa Claus,” she said. “He had the rosy cheeks, the belly, the height and the white hair.”
In 1998, Mr. Manby cofounded and served as president of the Chartiers Valley Partnership, a 50-member committee that undertook an ambitious effort to raise money for muchneeded upgrades to the library and music hall.
“If there was one person who at the time had the vision, the stamina and the personality to say, ‘We’re going to do this,’ it was Bill,” Ms. Forbes said. “There were so many people who just couldn’t believe it because it seemed so overwhelming — it was in decline for 100 years.
“He’s the one who said, ‘How do we fix this 35,000square-foot building that at one time had $136 in its checking account after payroll? Who’s going to take that on?’ And Bill did, with the other members of the partnership.”
“He was out gathering donations and called and called and called all of his contacts — and he had a lot of contacts,” his daughter said, laughing. “It just made him feel great.”
To mark his 80th birthday, the library and music hall held a surprise party for Mr. Manby and filled a display case with photos and memorabilia from his life and career, Ms. Forbes said.
He was moved to tears. “His legacy is pretty profound here,” she said. “This was a man who just exuded joy. He lit up a room, and the light he cast is still here. It lingers.”
Along with his daughter and his wife, Mr. Manby is survived by another daughter, Kimberly Beggs, of Mt. Lebanon; a son, Jeffrey Manby, of Pewaukee, Wis.; eight grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.
He was preceded in death by a sister, Ruth Boyd, and a brother, Jack.
A visitation is planned for 3 p.m. April 30 at William Slater II Funeral Service, 1650 Greentree Road, Scott.
The funeral May 1 will be private.
Donations in his memory may be made to the Church of the Atonement, 618 Washington Ave., Carnegie, or to the Andrew Carnegie Free Library, 300 Beechwood Ave., Carnegie (carnegiecarnegie.