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Baptiste J. 'Bap' Manzini, 87, of Belle Vernon died Friday, May 9, 2008 in Mon Valley Hospital. A son of the late Kelly and Rita Spranzi Manzini, he was born in Monongahela on August 27, 1920. He was a member of St. Sebastian Roman Catholic Church of Belle Vernon where he was an usher, a member of the Holy Name Society and the Knights of Columbus. He was a life member of the N. Belle Vernon Volunteer Fire Department and the Mon Valley Country Club where he was an avid golfer. Bap graduated from St. Vincent College with B.S. Degrees in both business and education. Upon graduation, he entered the U.S. Air Force. He played on the 1948 Philadelphia Eagles championship team, the Detroit Lions and has his name included on the French Memorial trophy at the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. In 1949, he coached the Monessen Ravens, one of the top semi-pro teams in Mon Valley football history. He taught high school for 35 years for Monongahela, Bellmar and Thomas Jefferson, coached high school baseball, was associated with playing and coaching football for over 56 years at various high schools and was the head football coach at St. Vincent College. He capped his coaching career at Thomas Jefferson in 1980 by winning the WPIAL AAA championship. Deservedly, many awards and honors have been bestowed upon Manzini : 1970 inductee to the Mon Valley Sports Hall of Fame, Western Pennsylvania Football Coaches Hall of Fame, Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1987, 1991 Western Chapter of the National Italian-American Sports Hall of Fame, 1991 Pennsylvania Coaches Hall of Fame and the 2006 Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. He was currently on the selection committee of the BVA Football and Mon Valley Sports Hall of Fame. Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Sophia Lazar Manzini, one daughter and son-in-law, Linda and Robert Emanuele of Robinson Township, one brother , Norman Manzini of New Eagle and three grandchildren, Sarah, Matthew and Leah Emanuele. He was very engaged in their lives. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his son, Dennis Manzini in 1978 and one brother, Dominick Manzini. Friends will be received Sunday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. in the Ferguson Funeral Home and Crematory, Inc. (724-929-5300), 700 Broad Avenue, Belle Vernon, www.FergusonFuneralHomeAndCrematory.com. A blessing service will be in the funeral home on Monday at 12 P.M. followed by a funeral mass at 12:30 P.M. in St. Sebastian R.C. Church. Friends are asked to go directly to the church. Interment will follow in Monongahela Cemetery. If friends wish, memorial donations may be made to St. Vincent College, 300 Fraser Purchase Road, Latrobe, PA 15650.

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Baptiste J. Manzini

August 27, 1920 - May 9, 2008