Jean Cole Manker, 86, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, September 9, 2014. Jean, the fifth child of Myrtle Mae Prichard Cole and James Anderson Cole, was a native of Elizabethton, Tenn. Jean was married to David Steffner Manker from 1989 until his death in 2012. She is survived by loving nieces, nephews and friends, who will dearly miss her.
Jean lived a long and fulfilling life. She fondly remembered being selected as Most Attractive Girl of her Senior Class and serving as drum major of the high school band. She attended Milligan College and East Tennessee State College. She worked as an Executive Secretary for several large Atlanta corporations until retiring in 1989.
Jean belonged to the Professional and National Secretaries’ Associations, volunteered as a Pink Lady at Northside Hospital and served on the Pastoral Care and Heritage Committees of the Peachtree and Roswell Presbyterian Churches.
She loved crochet, embroidery, knitting and needlepoint, and worked on several large pieces used at Peachtree Presbyterian Church. Jean was an avid reader and an incredible cook. At one time an avid golfer, Jean was President of the Cherokee Town & Country Club’s Women’s Golf Association.
Jean developed a passion for genealogy, certifying her ancestry in 28 hereditary societies with 21 years of research. She left an extensive legacy in DAR serving as Chairman of the Flag, DAR School and VIS Committees, Vice Regent, and Regent of the Martha Stewart Bulloch Chapter, Roswell, Ga.
As State Membership Chairman, Jean built the first 5-digit zip code database of Georgia membership, established the first online membership referral system, and served as State Chairman-Genealogical Records Committee. She was appointed as one of five National Vice Chairmen-Insignia Committee, served as State Corresponding Secretary on the 2002-2004 Executive Board of the Georgia State Society, NSDAR. She edited and published the first state member semiannual newsletter, The Georgia Drummer, and co-designed the Drummer Update website. For 2004-2006 GSS DAR, Jean was appointed to the State Chairman-President General’s Project and Information Help Desk.
Jean was a member of the Georgia State Society’s Officers’ Club, Recording Secretary of the Georgia Chapter Regents’ Club, lifetime member of the National Vice Chairmen’s Association, State Chairmen’s Club, State Junior Club, and a Patron of Meadow Garden. Jean and David were Charter Members of the DAR Heritage Club and Tamassee Legacy Society, also serving on the school’s National Advisory Committee. She was honored with 1999’s Outstanding Regent of the Year and received two Continental Congress Awards for DAR Membership and Leadership. Piedmont SAR awarded her three Medals of Appreciation and a Martha Washington Medal.
Jean served as Organizing President and Chapter President of the General John Clark Chapter, United States Daughters of 1812, was on the Executive Board, and served as State First-Vice President of the Georgia’s State Society, USD1812. She served as Regent and Executive Board member of the Dr. Andrew Turnbull Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Colonists.
She was State Recording Secretary for the Georgia Society Daughter of Colonial Wars, State Recording Secretary and Chairman of the Panel of the Georgia Society Magna Charta Dames, and Registrar of the North Fulton Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Jean and her husband, David, were members of the Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta and served on the team mentoring students at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo, Egypt. She wrote the prospectus for the Overseas Mentoring Project as part of the church’s Global Mission Endeavor.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, September 20, at 10 a.m. in the Kellett Chapel of Peachtree Presbyterian Church, 3434 Roswell Road NW, Atlanta, GA 30305 with a reception following at the church. Interment will be at Happy Valley Memorial Park in Elizabethton, Tenn. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to Tamassee DAR School, P.O. Box 8, Tamassee, SC 29686 or via www.tdarschool.org.
Crowell Brothers Funeral Home, Peachtree Corners, Ga., is in charge.