Maie McKoy Watkins “Toy” Manget, retired Director of Public Information of the DeKalb Library System, passed away on February 6, 2009, at age 81, after a long and brave battle with chronic pulmonary disease. She was surrounded by her loving family and the kind and great-hearted staff of her last home, who were such a wonderful comfort to her. She was born in Atlanta on August 28, 1927, the daughter of Helen Lockhart and Colonel Thomas Harlan Watkins (Army of the United States), of Decatur, GA. She grew up in Decatur and El Paso, Texas, where her father was stationed at Fort Bliss. She was a member of the only mounted Girl Scout troop in the country, sponsored by the wives of Army cavalry officers stationed at Fort Bliss, who donated their horses and polo ponies. When she was in high school during World War II, she gave all of her costume jewelry to the scrap metal drive in support of the war and was featured in Life magazine. She attended Converse College and was graduated from the University of Georgia in 1949. She joined the DeKalb Library System as an assistant part-time librarian and over an eleven-year career rose up to become the Director of Public Information, where she organized numerous public outreach events such as the Writer-In Residence program that included a visit to DeKalb from Georgia native son Erskine Caldwell. After she retired, she worked in the archives and library of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. She was a member of the Junior League in Decatur and Oak Grove United Methodist Church. She was married for 57 years to her beloved husband, Henry Fairfield “Doc” Manget, Jr., Director of DeKalb-Peachtree Airport from 1959 to 1990, who passed away in 2004. She remembered going out to San Francisco to meet his aircraft carrier when he returned from the Korean War in 1952 as executive officer of the Navy fighter squadron VT-72. She had a new dress and hairdo, and as the wives gathered on the pier the rain came down so hard it ruined all of their careful preparations, but the husbands did not mind. She and Doc loved going to Lake Burton and enjoyed traveling all over the country to visit their many aviation and airport friends, and to spend time with their children and grandchildren, of whom they were so deeply proud. She loved movies, books, and music, and playing bridge with her long-time Decatur friends. Her home, just like her sweet and loving heart, was filled always with light and laughter and good times. All memories of her are and will be good ones of a long and wonderful life filled with love of family, friends, and country. She is survived by her sister Marjorie Manget Watkins Black and her husband, RADM (ret.) Bruce Black of Farmington NM, three sons and their wives, Fred and Lesle Manget of Athens, GA, Tom and Debbie Manget and John and Kim Manget of Conyers, GA, and nine grandchildren: Felice Manget of Winston-Salem, NC, Caroline and Jonathan Thomas Manget of Potomac Falls, VA, Luke Manget and his wife Natalie of Murphy, NC, Daniel Manget and his wife Heather of Ashville, NC, Helen Manget of Conyers, GA, and Callie Manget Garcia and her husband Franklin Garcia, of Conyers, GA, and Will and Koy Manget of Conyers, GA. She is also survived by a great-grandson, Henry Manget, son of Luke and Natalie Manget. Funeral services are scheduled on Tuesday, February 10th at 11 o’clock at A.S. Turner and Sons Funeral Home, 2773 North Decatur Rd in Decatur. A visitation will be held at the funeral home on Monday from 5:00 until 8:00 o’clock at A. S. Turner & Sons.
