Barbara Ann Conway Delano, a remarkably sweet and beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, died on January 1st. A longtime resident of Largo, Barbara was born on May 31, 1941, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Thomas Irvin Conway and Margaret Talbot Bissell Conway. She attended Catholic schools, including Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga. She also attended the University of Chattanooga (now UTC).
She had a childhood filled with outdoor adventures (fishing and boating) with her parents (often including nuns from the local convent). She loved science, particularly biology and medicine. In high school, she participated in the National Science Fair, winning high honors in 1958 and 1959. That work resulted in her being invited to study in Montreal with Dr. Hans Selye, who developed early theories about the body’s response to stressors and coined the term “stress.”
In a chance meeting on the great dunes of Lake Michigan, she met James Lee McManus, fell in love and married him. They moved to Texas and had four children. There, Barbara pursued a career as a medical secretary at the renowned Texas Medical Center. In the mid-nineties, she moved to Pinellas County and worked at Morton Plant Hospital. She met Ernest Leon Delano at a bereavement group after each had lost their spouse. Ernie was a wonderful and loving husband. After his death in 2006, Barbara became very active in New Horizons for Widowed People & Friends, eventually becoming the president.
Barbara enjoyed many activities with a wide circle of friends and family: theater, restaurants, cards, movies, fishing, bowling, and travel. She was an exceptionally kind, sweet, and loving person, providing assistance to many of her friends and in turn, relying on their support. She encouraged her children to dream big and pursue those dreams.
Barbara was predeceased by her parents, her brother William Patrick “Pat” Conway, her dear husband Ernest Leon Delano, and her youngest son Michael Christopher McManus.
Barbara is survived by her children, James Lee McManus, Jr. (his wife, Holly Harrison), Thomas Fox McManus (his wife, Lisa Fox McManus), and Mary-Margaret McManus-Smith (her wife, Karen McManus-Smith), her grandchildren, Regina McManus-Smith, Thomas Fox McManus, Jr., Sydney McManus-Smith, Edward Fox McManus, Julian McManus-Smith, and Mira Harrison McManus, and her great-grandchildren, Paris Smith-Jones, Sereya Mathis-Rodriguez, and Amarah Smith-Ricketts.
She is also survived by her stepson, Michael Christopher Newton, and his son, Joshua Christopher Newton, as well as her sister-in-law, Elizabeth Conway, and many nieces and nephews (and their families), particularly Theresa Wilson, with whom she frequently celebrated their shared birthday.
In lieu of flowers, consider making a donation to either the St. Vincent DePaul Society or New Horizons for Widowed People & Friends.
