  Denison Herald July 28, 1987  Herald Democrat
February 4, 1998 pg. 2 MAN WHO HELPED "CREATE" DENISON ENJOYS RETIREMENT By Donna Hunt Effective Sept. 11, his 80th birthday, C.J. McManus, businessman and Denison booster officially retired. And this time, his third, he plans to stay retired. McManus' life has been a whirl of activities until recent years when his health has slowed his pace a little. In the past months he's busied himself in disposing of local property, mostly purchased in the 1980s when he first came home to his beloved Denison after living in Dallas for much of his salesman career and becoming an ambassador for the city. His most aggressive and toughest endeavor was the purchase of the Katy Depot. McManus had dreams for the Depot building and while he was not able to accomplish all of those dreams on his own, he had seen many of them become reality. Through the years McManus purchased many of the down and out buildings in Denison and either turned them into useful, attractive structures, or tore them down to make way for some other endeavor. McManus always had has a soft spot in his heart for Denison. His first business experience, however, was when he was a youngster living in Anton, Tx, and was able to secure the Fort Worth Star Telegram agency, which included delivery, collection, bookkeeping, etc. He moved to Denison in 1928 when he was 13 years old. He first started dreaming about owning the Katy Depot in about 1962. It took 25 land transactions for him to secure ownership of the property. He purchased the old Griffin building at 114 North Houston in 1960 and secured the Katy offices in the old Waples Platter building on the south side of the 100 block East Main in early 1983, then completely restored the building. The Depot was actually purchased by MWM Investments Co., which represented McManus and his two sons, Paul and C.J., Jr. and Robert D. Wilson of Dallas. Until that time he had maintained residences in Dallas and in Denison. Since then he has been "all-Denison". After purchasing the property, McManus really began working to realize his dream of the depot being a viable part of Denison. He soon realized, however, that it was going to take more than dreams to accomplish his plans. It was going to take a magic wand with a lot of money to restore the building. So in 1984 McManus canceled plans to sell the facility on the auction block, and announced its sale to Presley Gardner and Gerald R. Chester, Dallas businessmen. While Mr. Mac, no longer owned his dream building, he continued to play a large part in the work that was done by the new owners. He and his friends, Richard Riggins and Jim O'Brien were successful in soliciting local support to replace the graveled parking lot in front of the depot, with a plaza park very similar to the one that drew visitors to the depot in its early days. He has maintained an office in the building the entire time and still spends many hours a day there. He's planning for those hours to become less and less now that he's retiring again even though he plans to keep the office to have a place to visit with friends and to have a place to "hang out"... McManus grew up in Wood County, where he was born and where his father was a farmer. For a period the family moved to Anton in West Texas, where Mr. Mac first formed a business ethic. He and his wife, Pearl, married in 1933. In Denison he first opened a pawn shop at 204 West Main, which he operated until 1935 when he moved across the street and opened Dad and Lad's men and boys store. In 1954 he opened six more Dad & Lad's stores in Dallas, Pleasant Grove and Plano. In 1975, McManus joined Curlee's men clothier and was top salesman for nine years. But Denison was always home to McManus and in 1960 he built a home and moved back here. He didn't like the looks of the 100 and 200 blocks of Main, so he began purchasing much of the property and remodeling it. In October 1986, a plaque was unveiled in the depot rotunda recognizing McManus as "a shining example of our American way of life. He has big dreams and the determination to many of those dreams come true for Denison." "A man who richly deserves the esteem and admiration of Denisonians, for through his dreams, determination and plain old hard work, this city has benefited throughout the years," the plaque reads as a tribute from Denison leaders.    Herald Democrat February 4, 1998 pg.2 Burial at Cedarlawn Cemetery  Biography Index Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson CountyTXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |