Dorothy Frances Manring

Dorothy Frances Manring, 86, of Indianapolis, died Friday May 3.

An entrepreneur of international breadth, she devoted much of her life to improving the scope and power of women's roles in society. She was a Girl Scout volunteer in several states and was the inaugural recipient of the Gwladys Brewster Outstanding Altrusan Award from Altrusa International in 1992.

Dorothy was born in Tientsin, China, on Nov. 23, 1926, the daughter of Raisa Hotimsky and Staff Sgt. Frank Filipiak. She was formally adopted by Jess T. and Naomi Peyton in 1931.

With the threat of war between the United States and Japan increasing, her parents sent Dorothy to live with relatives in the U.S. She left China in December, 1940.When war did come, her parents would be interned by the Japanese.

She ended up in the rural Eastern Washington town of Garfield, where she graduated from high school in 1942. When she arrived, stories of the exotic girl from China were so intriguing one group of boys actually snuck up to her house one night to peer in the window and see what she looked like.
In December 1946, she married Ben Manring, once among those boys peeking in on her, now an ensign in the U.S. Navy.

The couple traveled the world together over his 27 years in the Navy, living in South Carolina, Rhode Island, California, Hawaii, Virginia and Belgium. In 1951, they had their first child, Rebecca Jane. Nicholas Jordan followed in 1953. A second son, Keith Guy, was born in 1963.

Although she had previously attended Creighton University, Whitman College and the University of Hawaii, it wasn't until 1970 that she completed her degree at Old Dominion University. Soon after, Ben retired from the Navy and they moved to Seattle, Wash.

The couple launched an export company from their basement in Bellevue, Wash., eventually focusing on agricultural development equipment. ManCor became a significant business in countries from Thailand to Jamaica and the Gambia and emerged as the leading U.S. company in Burma.

At the same time, Dorothy worked tirelessly as a volunteer with Girl Scouts. She also became a member of Altrusa, where she took on increasingly important leadership roles. She was a long-time member of Overlake Park Presbyterian Church in Bellevue and Rose Hill Presbyterian Church in Kirkland, Wash.

In the 1980s, she rediscovered her Hotimsky siblings, now living in Australia.

In the early 1990s, the Manrings shut down their business and retired. Dorothy survived breast cancer and open-heart surgery. Ben preceded her in death in 1996.

She moved to Indianapolis unexpectedly in 2010 to be closer to family.

She is survived by her children and their spouses, Tim Bagwell (Bloomington), Bea Lueben Manring (Chennai, India) and Ann Manring (Indianapolis). She also is survived by seven grandchildren: Nathan Gwinn of Yakima, Wash.; Frances Peterson, currently a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay; Austin Manring of Cheney, Wash.; Dimitri Manring of Garfield, Wash.; and Camelia, Lily and Rose Manring of Indianapolis. She also has three great-grandchildren: Beritt Gwinn of Yakima, and William and Evelyn Bagwell of Indianapolis.

Contributions in her memory can be made to Girl Scouts of Western Washington council or the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society.

Services will be held at 3 p.m. on Thursday, May 9 at First Congregational Church, 7171 N. Pennsylvania St., Indianapolis. Burial will follow at sea.

Arrangements entrusted to A.R.N. Cremation Services. Friends may leave a memory or message of condolence by visiting the online obituary at www.arncremation.com.