WILMINGTON, Del. — John Manser, 70, a veteran journalist, died Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020, in Christiana Hospital of complications from the liver disease NASH (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis).
Born in Youngstown, to the late Ferris and Sophie Manos Manser, he graduated from Youngstown State University, where he discovered a talent and passion for journalism. He worked for newspapers and professional publications in Ohio, Maryland, Washington ,D.C., Delaware and Pennsylvania, winning many awards as a reporter and editor.
While at the Wilmington News Journal, he earned a law degree, magna cum laude, from Widener University School of Law and passed the Delaware bar exam on the first try, intending to practice public interest or labor law, but he was drawn back into journalism by the opportunity to oversee the start of a new publication, the Delaware Law Weekly. He worked as managing editor of the Weekly and later of its parent newspaper, the Philadelphia Legal Intelligencer.
After retiring, he continued to work as a freelance copy editor. John was a devoted husband, father and brother, a talented photographer, and an avid reader of literature, history and politics.
He was a lifelong and outspoken supporter of Cleveland sports teams, labor unions, local journalism, the Democratic Party and civil rights, and was a life member of the NAACP.
He is survived by his loving wife, Ann, whom he met 31 years ago at the coffee machine in the old Wilmington News Journal newsroom; daughter, Laura of Kapa’a, Hawaii, the light of his life from the first moment he saw her; sister, Rose Ann (Chuck) Guerrieri and brother, William, both of the Youngstown area; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
