Ethel Belle Manley was born on September 22, 1894 in Kirk, Colorado. She was the third of twelve children born to David Stephen Manley and Isabella Barbara McNair Manley. . Her father was born in Illinois he was of English and Irish descent. Her mother and maternal grandfather, Nathaniel McNair were born on Heron Island in New Brunswick, Canada. His ancestors originated in Kildonan, Peninsula of Kintyre in Argyll (Argyll shire) Scotland.

My mother relayed that Ethel graduated from high school, but did not have the opportunity to attend college. Ethel and her sister Mary were working for a family in Wray, Colorado and on one cold winter day after completing their work they were travelling home by horse and buggy when Ethel's hands became frostbitten. Ethel was 18 years old her sister Mary, (Hannah Mary Manley), was 20 years old. Ethel and Mary stopped in the closest town to seek medical treatment from the only physician practicing in that area. That town was Idalia and the physician was my Mother's Father, James Garcia.

Ethel and James were married in 1913 and were blessed with six children, three boys and three girls. Dr. James Garcia needed a nurse and he trained his wife to assist him with sick patients and during the delivery of babies. In addition when the family lived in the house next to the delivery room Ethel took care of the new mothers and infants. My mother said she was often envious of the food that the new mothers would get as her mother would travel to town to buy fresh food and produce for these ladies.

Uncle Gus gives us a glimpse of his mother's life during the dustbowl era in his article, entitled High Plains Physician published in the University of Northern Colorado magazine Spectrum in June 2002, "If the doctor's life was a difficult one, the life of a doctor's wife was even more so, with a large family, no financial security and an absence of anything cultural. There were only endless dust storms, rolling thunder, ever blowing wind and a flat prairie with hardly a tree in sight. In spite of all this, my mother saw her six children through college.

In 1940 when the family lived in Del Norte Ethel Belle was 45 years old. She was listed in the 1940 census as the proprietor of a boarding house, and was working 84 hours a week. The boarding house was her own home. In 1940 five of the six children were living at home and there were four teachers living in the house as borders. Mom, Fern Garcia Delouche, said that her mother made fresh bread daily and pastries and deserts. During this time she was also cooking for eleven people every day and doing laundry and housework and raising her own family!!!!

My Mother said she was a phenomenal woman. Although she only had a high school education she was self-educated, an avid reader and the extent of her knowledge was vast .She was tall and slender with brown hair and blue eyes. She could be both funny and serious. Once Ethel Belle told the children for months that an elephant was coming to the house. On the day of the elephants was to be delivered a player piano arrived. Ethel Belle Manley was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother she passed away on August 11, 1950 in Denver, Colorado.

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Funeral Notice, 13 Aug 1950 The Rocky Mountain News (Weekly), CO