Manny Peretz

Manuel (Manny) Peretz, one of the last of the great originals, got his wish and died in his sleep in his own bed on November 7, 2015 at the age of 89. His adventurous spirit led him to enlist in the U.S. Navy in August of 1942, at the tender age of 16. When once asked why he had enlisted so young, he answered, "I was afraid that the war would be over by the time I turned 18, and I guess I just didn't want to miss the show". He served on the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga in the Asiatic Pacific Campaign. The ship was hit twice by kamikazes. As part of Admiral Halsey's fleet, the Ticonderoga was present in Tokyo Bay during the Japanese surrender. He was awarded four battle stars on his APC ribbon, and one on his Philippines Liberation medal. He was awarded other decorations, but declined the Purple Heart because he said, "There were other guys in worse shape than I was". He attained the rank of Aviation Machinist Mate, 1st Class. Upon discharge in 1946 at the age of 20, he returned to Cleveland Heights High to resume his education as a junior.

The coaches at the high school wanted him to play football because of his age, size and muscularity. He refused the offer because "it would be a man beating up boys". Due to his high test scores, he was allowed to graduate after his junior year. From there, he enrolled at Kent State University, where he was made the same offer to participate on the football team; he declined for the same reason.

In 1949, he moved to Colorado Springs. Manny met and married Marina Fontecchio Dytri in 1952. He opened an ESSO station, which repeatedly won awards. Years later, he opened the much-loved Skyway Delicatessen. Marina was his right hand in the management of both businesses. On weekends, they built a log cabin on land that he had previously purchased in West Creek, in the Pike National Forest.

After 25 years of marriage, Marina succumbed to throat cancer at the age of 61. Over the years, Manny was very active in Civitan, Underage Veterans of America, the Ticonderoga Association, and was a founding member of the World War Two Museum in New Orleans. He met his second wife, Dorothea (Dottie) Marie Buschbach Larson, at a bridge game in Colorado Springs, in 1986. They retired to West Creek, where they enjoyed riding their horses, gardening, raising steer and playing with their collies. The cabin was the scene of many annual barbeques of epic scale, for friends, family and The Underage Veterans Association members. Dottie and Manny's hospitality was the stuff of legend.

His adored wife, Dottie, predeceased Manny. He is survived by his youngest sister, Gilda Tustin; her children Susan Iadone and Karen Shapiro, of New York City and her son Michael Shapiro of Houston; his nephew Robert Cohen (Toi Whitmore) of Denver; his niece Barbara Weiss (James) of Denver; his nephews James Lytton (Elyn) of Firestone and Leslie Jay Lytton of Boulder; his greatnephews Seth Lytton (Neely Quinn-Lytton) of Boulder and Alan Lytton of Fort Collins. In addition, Manny is survived by Marina's son James Dytri (Dev) and Dev's son Bryn, of Arizona, and Dottie's family: Teri Clark (Bob) of Houston and their children Marianne and Joshua; Lori Lamb (Bert) of Fort Collins and their children Matthew, Michael, Mark and Madeline; Steven Larson (Amy) of Nashville and their son Nicholas; and Thomas Larson (Misty) of Nashville. He will be deeply missed, not only by his family, but by his very dear friends, Deb and Jim Bruner and Barbara and Peter Waas, all of West Creek. He will also be mourned by his Border Collie, Mr. Jackson (Jack the Cat) and his bridge buddies at the Woodland Park Senior Center.


Donations in memory of Manny Peretz may be made to: The Woodland Park Senior Center, The National WWII Museum at www.nationalww2museum.org, or your favorite charity.