Barbara Luger McManus

Barbara was born to Margaret and Irving Luger in Minneapolis in 1928 as part of the “Greatest Generation.” Her father, who had served as a sergeant in the Marine Corps in World War I,, was the principal executive in the family-owned Luger Furniture business in Minneapolis.

Barbara graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in business and psychology from the College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1950. An active debater throughout college, she was a member of the 1949 team that won the U.S. championship in the women’s division.

Following the death of her brother, Irving Luger, Jr., in the Battle of the Bulge, World War II, Barbara worked as a recreation hostess with the 10th Armored Division in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany in the early 1950s. She traveled to London, Nuremberg, Salzburg, Paris, Vienna, Florence and Saint-Avold, France, where Irving is buried in the Lorraine American Cemetery.

Barbara then returned to work as a social worker for Hennepin County in Minneapolis, helping the oppressed.

Barbara met Joseph McManus when she was the membership chair and he was the president of the Twin Cities Catholic Alumni Club. They married on June 10, 1961, and started their family in Ann Arbor, Michigan, while Joe pursued his master’s degree. After growing their family in Chicago, they moved to Miami in 1973.

Barbara graduated with her master’s in education from the University of Miami and worked as a Miami-Dade County public school teacher from 1975 to 1995. She taught high school, middle school, and gifted students at Miami Senior High School, Nautilus Middle School, Citrus Grove Middle School and George Washington Carver Middle School. Barbara taught English as a second language at Hialeah Senior High School and college preparation at Miami-Dade Community College.

Barbara received a Fulbright Scholarship for her research paper on the origins of chess, spent two months in India in 1990 and met Mother Teresa. In Miami, she spread her love of chess to students and was the vice president of the Dade Scholastic Chess Association. Barbara received National Endowment for the Humanities grants for her papers on Romanticism, War and Peace and other literary works, allowing her to spend summers studying at the Ohio State University, the University of Illinois and Vanderbilt University.

After retiring as a grade school teacher, she taught at Miami-Dade Community College and Indian River Community College.

Barbara met the challenge of teaching and raising her family with a steely resolve and determination. She told her children, “Some days you just have to bite the bullet.”

After the loss of her childhood home in Minneapolis from an airplane crash, she had little use for material possessions, instead treasuring trips biking to Matheson Hammock and Crandon Park, and playing tennis at Salvadore Park and the Biltmore Hotel.

Barbara enjoyed grueling, Tour-de-France-like bicycle trips to the Everglades, unbothered by heat and mosquitos. She enjoyed swimming at the University of Miami and later, at her pool at her condo complex, where she swam countless laps. She enjoyed reading three daily newspapers and kept up with her chess, book clubs and volunteering for Camillus House.

She and her husband Joseph traveled to over 50 countries, including two around-the-world trips. She loved to tell of how she and Joe had nine private sherpas while trekking in mountainous Nepal. Barbara skied in Keystone, Colorado, visited her sister, Nancy, and her family in Minneapolis, and enjoyed seeing Lugerville, Wisconsin, founded by her ancestors.

Barbara and Joseph moved to Boca Raton to be closer to their children, enjoying fine views of the ocean from their condo. She served as a church lector at Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Church with her husband for over 20 years.

As a tribute to her Irish mother’s heritage, Barbara celebrated St. Patrick’s Day and was a longtime member of the South Florida Emerald Society. She and Joe were editors of the Emerald newsletter for many years.

Barbara’s survivors include her husband, Joseph McManus; four daughters, Margaret Ballas, Catherine McManus, Sarah Nielsen and Noel Stillings; and son, John McManus; nine grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.

A viewing will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 30, 2025, at the Babione-Kraeer Funeral Home, 1100 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton, FL, 33432. A Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, July 31, 2025, at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, 370 SW 3rd St, Boca Raton, FL 33432. A burial follows on Thursday, July 31, at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Cemetery at 1500 S. State Road 7, North Lauderdale, FL 33068.

Condolences may be sent to:

Joseph McManus

The Palace at Weston

16025 Emerald Estates Drive, Room 386

Boca Raton, FL 33331

Donations in lieu of flowers in the name of Barbara Luger McManus to:

Alzheimer’s Foundation of America

www.alzfdn.org/donate/

322 Eighth Avenue, 16th Floor

New York, New York 10001