DOUGLAS WAYNE MANNING of Oklahoma City, OK died on January 27, 2025 at the age of 92. Doug’s impact on the community of the bereaved and his vision for improving the funeral and death care professions will be felt for generations to come.
It was while serving as the founding leader of Fellowship of Believers in Hereford that Doug became interested in the grief experience and his concern that there was so little in the way of support and resources for people experiencing a death. He wrote his first book A Minister Speaks About Funerals in 1978 and Don’t Take My Grief Away from Me in 1979.
After writing his first book for caregivers, When Love Gets Tough: Making the Nursing Home Decision, in 1982, he determined that this was his calling, and he left active ministry and established InSight Books to publish his writings. Doug wrote 51 books, and produced 27 audio tapes and videos. His bereavement re-sources have been purchased by individuals, churches, hospitals, hospices and organizations.
Through his partnership with The Dodge Company, he sold thousands of his aftercare books to funeral professionals and spoke at countless seminars and trainings. He encouraged death care professionals to understand the grief journey and gave them support and inspiration for becoming a healing presence for their families.
In 1996, Doug and Barbara moved the company to Oklahoma City and his daughters, Glenda, Kathy and Sandy, took over the day-to-day operations of publishing and speaking and training.
In 1999, he co-created the InSight Institute Funeral Celebrant training with his daughter, Glenda Stans-bury. Together they traveled North America, establishing a new way to consider what funerals could be and, to date, over 5000 people have completed that training.
The rest of Doug’s story, and his philosophy of life, can be found in his final autographical book, The Spiritual Journey of a Recovering Baptist.
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