George H. Manaker, 87, formerly of Roslyn, professor emeritus at Temple University, retired longtime chair of the Ambler campus’ department of landscape architecture and horticulture, author, lecturer, and mentor, died Tuesday, June 27, of frailty syndrome and complications from multiple sclerosis at Echo Lake senior living center in Malvern.
He mentored hundreds of Temple students who went on to horticulture careers and became a Chester County master gardener and instructor at Longwood Gardens after he retired. “My greatest pleasure has been teaching,” Dr. Manaker told the Times Herald of Norristown when he retired in 1997. “I’ll miss the program, but the students more, the interaction we’ve shared.”In 1982, after more than 200 students filled Temple’s two-year horticulture course, Dr.
In addition to working out strategies to keep the rabbits from eating his lettuce, Dr. Manaker wandered often with his children through the orchards and greenhouses at the Temple campus in Ambler. “The tropical greenhouse was my favorite,” said his daughter Cindy Marzullo. “Banana trees and other exotic tropical flowers and plants that I had never seen before filled the space.”