Ida Aileena Maninga

Ida Aileena (Niemela) Maninga, age 82, of Menahga, MN, passed away on Thursday, January 23, 2025, at Green Pines Nursing Home in Menahga, MN. A memorial service will be at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, February 6, 2025, at Spruce Grove Lutheran Church in Wolf Lake, MN, with a visitation at 10:00 a.m.. 

Ida was born on May 2, 1942, to Onni and Sally (Kuismi) Niemela in Runeberg Township, MN. She grew up in the Wolf Lake area and graduated from Menahga High School in 1960. She was united in marriage to Emil Maninga on February 4, 1961, and the couple were blessed with three children: Boyd, Peter, and Jane. When Emil was drafted into the United States Army in 1961, they were stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington, and in Nancy, France, later returning to the Ely area, where they resided for ten years. In the early 1970’s, they made their home in Menahga. There, Ida worked on the family dairy farm and at RDO for over twenty years until they sold the cattle. She retired from RDO in the late 1990’s.

Ida enjoyed both vegetable and flower gardening. She like bird watching and feeding her birds. She an Emil enjoyed traveling the United States together, especially to Yuma, AZ, and California and Hawaii. She also loved fishing and, most of all, cherished spending time with her grandchildren and family. 

She will be remembered for her sweet and easy-going nature, her generosity, and her contagious laugh. 

She is survived by her husband of 63 years, Emil; two sons, Boyd Maninga (Diane) of St Cloud, MN; and Peter Maninga of Menahga, MN; a daughter, Jane (Kevin) Urvig of Menahga, MN; a sister, Julia Wehmas of Menahga, MN; a brother, Leslie Niemela of Menahga, MN; grandchild: Virginia, Daniel, Peter Jr., Lisa, Trevor, Alex, Zachary, Dylan; four great grandchild, and numerous nieces and nephews.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Onni and Sally, a sister, Carol Niemela, and a brother, Billy Niemela. 

Jones-Pearson Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.