Lifetime achievement award started in honor of Manley 

A lot can be accomplished in a lifetime. 

The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce is starting a new award for lifetime achievement in honor of Colleen Manley who died unexpectedly earlier this year at the age of 63.

“If you have been a part of this community, then you knew Colleen,” Chamber Executive Director Rachelle Baughman said at their March 8 meeting. “She was a huge aspect of this community. Colleen did a lot. She was a part of the chamber, she was a part of the Rotary, she was a part of the Lions. I’m not even sure of everything she was a part of, but she was a wonderful person. She was my mentor at the credit union when I worked there and I have so much respect for her.” 

Manley, who graduated from Coulee Dam High School, began her career at the Coulee Dam Federal Credit Union in 1979, starting as a teller and becoming chief executive officer in 2008, then regional president after last year’s merger with the Spokane-based STCU.  

“Many people don’t know that Colleen contributed to the chamber as far as making sure that many of our events happened within this community,” Baughman said. “We really felt that we needed to pay our respects to her and honor her and make sure that her legacy lived on through this community.”

“She took great pride being a leader,” Manley’s obituary read, “showing by example and helping all her employees excel to the best of their abilities. Not only did she love helping them professionally, but she adored and loved all her coworkers on a personal level. … Colleen was a strong, independent, amazing woman who was a force to be reckoned with in the way she lived her life, always thinking of others before herself. She lived every day of her life for her family, friends, coworkers and community. She truly had a heart of gold.”