MANUEL, William Richard (Rich)

The Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona, Sunday, April 06, 2014 Mr. William "Rich" Manuel April 10, 1929 - April 1, 2014 William Richard "Rich" Manuel, 84, of Prescott, Ariz., passed away peacefully in his sleep on April 1, 2014. Rich was born in Fullerton, Calif., on April 10, 1929, to Cornelius and Eunice Manuel, who preceded him in death, along with his brothers Bill and Louie. His family soon moved to Brea, Calif. Rich graduated from Brea-Olinda High School, where he was a star athlete in baseball, football, basketball and track and field. He was named the Top Athlete of the Year his senior year. He married his childhood sweetheart, Joyce Arlene Weaver, and went onto to raise two boys, Steven Richard Manuel and Gregory Chris Manuel. Joyce passed away at 51. Rich married Pam, a member of his Lutheran Church, in 1985. Rich and Pam relocated to their dream home in Prescott in 1995 to retire - where Rich loved to play golf, target shoot, hunt and enjoy his favorite show, "Frasier." Rich spent his professional life in the oil industry. As a young man, he worked for Monterey Oil, then Humble Oil, and finally Exxon Co. USA for 30 years as a warehouse and logistics supervisor until his retirement. Rich played a major role establishing the infrastructure for material handling and warehousing for all the major Exxon projects in California. Rich also spent time managing the onshore warehousing in Alaska. After retiring in 1986, Rich was asked to come back to Exxon as a consultant to establish materials handling and warehousing for the new Las Flores Canyon Oil and Gas Processing Plant in Santa Barbara. Rich is survived by wife, Pamela; his sons, Greg (Yolanda) and Steve (Maria); his stepdaughter, Jennifer Baker (Lucas); his grandchildren, Gregory, Taryn, Lindsay and Cody Manuel, and Dustyn and Max Baker; and his sister, Lois Kolb. A private family graveside service will be May 3, 2014. In lieu of flowers, send donations to Prescott Parkinson Support Group, 1783 N. Deer Trail, Prescott, AZ 86305. Please visit www.heritagemortuary.com to sign Rich's online guest book. Services entrusted to Heritage Memory Mortuary.