John and Diane Manon

John Calvin Manon, Ruling Elder for St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Auburn, Ind., and longtime Stated Clerk of the Presbytery of the Midwest, died on March 3 at his home in Auburn.

He was born in Auburn on February 18, 1935, to Walter Calvin Manon and Mary Kathryn (Owens) Manon. He graduated from Auburn High School in 1953 and attended Tri-State (now Trine) University in Angola, Ind., and Indiana University in Bloomington.

Manon served in the U.S. Army from 1957-1959, as an administrative clerk. He was assigned to the Eighth U.S. Army Headquarters, Chief of Staff Section, in Seoul, South Korea.

After discharge he managed two family-owned Texaco Service Stations in Auburn and worked briefly as an insurance agent before beginning work at Cooper Engineered Products in Auburn. He retired in 1992 following 30 years in Cooper’s sales department.

On February 27, 1971, he married the Rev. Diane Marie Davis in Auburn, who currently serves on the Session for St. Andrew Presbyterian Church.

In retirement he served as volunteer administrator of the Presbyterian Self-help Ministries in Auburn and an assistant soccer coach at Lakewood Park Christian School. He served on the first advisory board for DeKalb Area Schools at Home (D.A.S.H.). He also was a funeral attendant at Feller and Clark Funeral Homes in Auburn and Waterloo, Ind.

Manon served as the Stated Clerk of the Presbytery of the Midwest from 2001 until 2018. He was a founding member and the first Clerk of Session of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church and served the congregation from its inception in 1993 as Ruling Elder, Trustee, and Deacon. He also served nine years as the Church Administrator. He had served as Clerk of Session, Elder, and Deacon for his previous church, Auburn Presbyterian Church. At both churches he was a worship leader, a teacher of new church members, an officer-training instructor, a Sunday school teacher, and served as Sunday School Superintendent for many years. In 1982, Manon received a certificate as a Lay Preacher from the Lay Preacher’s Institute of his former denomination’s Presbytery of Wabash Valley.

He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Diane; daughter and son-in-law Angie and David May of Columbus, Ind.; daughter Molly Manon of Auburn; son and daughter-in-law John and Amber Manon of Auburn; son and daughter-in-law Justin and Joni Manon of Fort Collins, Colo.; granddaughters Katrina Ann May, Cassidy Marie May, and Lynlie Rae Manon; and grandsons Liam John Manon, Jonah Calvin Manon, and Judah Kelso Manon.

Memorials can be sent to St. Andrew Evangelical Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 6041, Auburn, IN 46706.