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Manning has lived in Milton for 51 years. She and her husband, Robert, did their time attending youth hockey, baseball, soccer and other games as their six athletic children grew. She was always a strong presence in their lives, even as she continued an active life outside the home.
“I guess it’s part of my mom’s philosophy,” said Manning. “She worked all the time. …She was early on a working mother. But I never felt that we were secondary. The work ethic is very strong.”
Her mother worked in the fur industry and in merchandising, so Manning’s flare for fashion may have been in the genes.
She graduated from Massachusetts College of Art and got a job with Jordan Marsh as a fashion director. From there she went on to teaching at the Chamberlain School of Retailing, eventually becoming the head of the school. Later, she was recruited to run Burdett College, and after many years, retired as president of the college.
“I like the teaching environment. I never really thought of myself as a teacher,” she said. “I always felt I was sharing information.”
She has taught everything from the history of costume to advertising to visual merchandizing. These days, she shares her knowledge with students at Mount Ida College in Newton, where for the past four years she has been an adjunct professor of fashion merchandising and marketing.
But she is quick to say her most important job has been in Milton, raising her six children.
“They’ve always been the most important thing, my most important job,” said Manning.
Her oldest daughter, Patrice Flavin, is the only one who lives in Milton, and has had the luxury of having her mother right down the street.
“I don’t know where she gets her energy, but I wish I had it!” said Flavin. “She’s an inspiration, and my kids have been lucky because she’s been there for them, too.”
Back in the 1970s, Manning was one of the founding members of the Milton High School Boosters, and also served on the Outdoor Athletic Facilities Building Committee that helped to get the first addition built to the old high school gym and the outdoor athletic fields.
Today, she serves on the Milton Sign Review Committee, and is secretary of the Republican Town Committee. She has a history of being a vocal advocate for business development in town, including the once controversial Milton Marketplace that polarized the town more than two decades ago. She has never been one to run for political office herself, but has strong opinions when it comes to running the town.
“I’ve always been on the opposite side of an issue,” Manning stated. “Being a Milton Republican, I’m right away on the wrong side of the page.”
Her views are strong, and she has a pro-business outlook for the town, which she feels would help the tax-base issues.
But the community she now serves on a day-to-day basis is Quincy, where she is the executive director of the Quincy Center Business and Professional Association. It’s a job she decided to take after her retirement, but she certainly isn’t taking it easy. She works every day, in addition to teaching at Mount Ida. She also continues to spend much of her time volunteering for various causes.
Her dedication was recently recognized when she was awarded the 2008 Maria Droste Award by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, in Quincy. She has served on the board of directors for more than 15 years of the counseling agency, which helps people in crisis, offering mental health and other services.
According to Sister Lorraine Bernier, administrator for the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, the award is well deserved.
“Maralin has always resonated the same philosophy as the causes of the organization,” said Bernier. “She is passionate, but at the same time, compassionate. We are very blessed to have her.”
Does Manning consider slowing down anytime soon?
“I stayed home for about six months, and it was going to be murder, suicide or something else,” she joked.
“I’m old enough to know I’m not going to live forever, and young enough to think I can,” she said, between fielding phone calls at her office.
“You work. You work hard. That’s what life’s about.”