Deanna Manchion

Deanna was born on April 12, 1948 in Rapid City, South Dakota near the Black Hills. Her father Dean Nauman was an artist and ran a printing company. Her mother, Ida Mae Pengra, was a WWII nurse and loved to cook. As a child Deanna liked to dress up, play hide and seek, and pretend she was an Indian princess riding a horse. There was a creek in her backyard that provided hours of enjoyment for her and her siblings John & Beth. Deanna's own children played in the same creek many years later. She was an introvert who loved to read, with classics like Little Women amongst her favorites. She was born with only one ear, but this did not stop her from enjoying music tremendously. She played piano, the ukulele, and sang in the choir (both in school and church as an adult). She also appeared in 2 high school musicals: Music Man and South Pacific . She was a Beatles fan and her favorite member was George Harrison. In 1964, Deanna underwent exploratory surgery at the age of 16 in the hopes of repairing her missing ear. Unfortunately, the ear was found to be inoperable and during the surgery a nerve was accidentally cut, paralyzing the right side of her face. While this was a difficult obstacle for a teenager to overcome, Deanna did her best to accept this flaw as part of her personality. Her mother taught her she was strong, smart, and to never let things hold her back.

Deanna wanted to be a teacher, so she left home to attend the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley in 1966. At a dance, she met an airman named Ed "Rocky" Burlason. They danced and built a tower of paper cups. It was love at first site. Deanna felt that Ed was drawn to her in part because of her paralyzed face as he was a caring person who sympathized with people who struggled in life. In this way, her disability became a blessing, as it helped her find love. They were married in Rapid City in 1970. Ed and Deanna moved to Tennessee shortly after their wedding, where she took a job teaching African American students who lived in the projects. Teaching proved to be very difficult due to Deanna's hearing impairment, especially managing classroom problems when she couldn't hear them happen. She tried her best, but the cultural and socioeconomic differences between herself and her students made it difficult to reach them. Disheartened with teaching, she decided to go back to college to get her Master's in English at Middle Tennessee State University. She enjoyed living in the south- especially the fireflies, magnolias, redbuds, country ham, grits, and turnip greens.

Ed and Deanna moved to Colorado in 1973, excited to start a family and spend time hiking and camping in the mountains. She worked as a substitute teacher. Ed become a school counselor at East Middle School to pursue his passion to help troubled kids. They had a boy, Jess in 1975, followed by a girl, Charlotte, in 1976. Deanna loved having children and stayed home to raise them as long as she could. In 1985 she decided to pursue a business career. Because she lacked experience, she took a position in the mail room at AT&T. But it wasn't long before she moved up the ranks, eventually becoming an IT Systems Analyst. Ed and Deanna lived simply, enjoying the outdoors, and traveling. They greatly enriched their children's lives, making sure they had music lessons, taking them on road trips, and providing them with college educations. Jess & Charlotte inherited Deanna's love of art, music, nature, and travel.

Ed was diagnosed with neck cancer in 2002. Surgery and radiation were initially successful, giving Ed about a year of cancer-free time with his family. But unfortunately the cancer returned and he passed away in 2003 at the age of 55, which devastated Deanna. She never thought she would lose her husband that soon in life. But she found companionship again when she met Dale Manchion in 2004, later getting married in 2007. They enjoyed the mountains, biking, dancing, and traveling together. Deanna retired in 2007 after more than 20 years in the telecommunications business, and became a grandmother in 2011. She helped raise her grandchildren (2 boys - Ryker & Everett) by watching them a couple days a week. They were always going on adventures to museums, playgrounds, and the mountains. She formed a deep bond with the boys, loving them as if they were her own children. It brought her great joy to experience the world through their eyes. Deanna re-discovered her passion for teaching through the OLLI program at the University of Denver, volunteering to teach classes about music, history, and art to retirees. She was a very popular teacher and her classes booked up quickly. Her students adored her - some signed up for every course she taught, regardless of the topic.

Deanna was diagnosed with a very aggressive face and neck cancer in May 2017, very similar to what Ed had died of. She fought hard and with optimism, but the cancer did not respond to surgery, radiation or chemo. It came back in October and she underwent a second surgery to remove the growing cancer, but it continued to grow and spread. She was admitted to the hospital in early December and was later transferred to an in-patient hospice facility. In hospice, she continued to be passionate about listening to music, finishing up her OLLI classes, and visiting with family and friends. She passed away at the age of 69 on Christmas Eve, after getting one last visit from her daughter and grandchildren. Deanna will be greatly missed and remembered by many. She is survived by her father Dean Nauman, husband Dale Manchion, son Jess Burlason and daughter Charlotte Briscoe.

Memorial Services will be Friday, January 26th at 11:30am at Green Mountain United Methodist Church, 2755 W Cedar Dr, Lakewood, CO 80228. A reception will follow the service.