Donna Manchester, of the Asotin Police Department, retires

With her 75th birthday rapidly approaching, Donna Manchester decided it was time to park her Asotin Police Department patrol car for good.

It’s a bittersweet farewell to a law enforcement career she began in mid-life and thoroughly enjoyed until the end.

“I just loved working the streets,” Manchester said from her Clarkston home. “I’ve always wanted to be in law enforcement, but my dad talked me out of it when I graduated from high school because he thought it was too dangerous. I finally went through the reserve academy when I was 45.”

Manchester was one of the first females to wear a badge in Asotin County, and the only woman in her reserve class that stuck with it. Over the past three decades, she worked for the county sheriff’s office as a reserve officer, a jailer and a dispatcher, and patrolled for Clarkston and Asotin police departments. When she wasn’t in uniform, she was working at the Department of Motor Vehicles in Clarkston.

“A lot of times, I put in 60-hour weeks,” she said. “I’d get home from my day job, gear up and go back out on the streets.”

Her patrol car was a familiar sight in Asotin, usually near the edge of town. Thanks to Manchester, many motorists found out it wasn’t OK to speed on the way to school or Snake River beaches. During one summer weekend shift, she issued 37 citations.

Sometimes she saw familiar faces behind the wheel. “I pulled over one lady three different times while I was parked in the same spot,” she said. “I thought she’d learn, but she never did.”

Asotin Police Chief Monte Renzelman said Manchester has been an integral part of his small police force, and her dedication will be missed.

“She has been the backbone of the Asotin Police Department for over 18 years and my right hand gal for over eight,” Renzelman said in an email. “Throughout her career, her dedication to keeping our community safe has been nothing short of exceptional. Her career in Asotin has been a shining example of versatility and commitment.”

A recent retirement party at Asotin City Hall was filled with well wishers and accolades from law enforcement officials. Manchester was also recognized at this week’s Clarkston City Council meeting by Police Chief Joel Hastings.

“Donna has given us hundreds of volunteer hours,” Hastings told the council. “I think she worked every parade, gave up her Fourth of Julys, and always came in to provide extra help when we needed her. I’ve never met anyone who worked as hard as Donna.”

Manchester wore many hats during her years with the city, including stints as a records clerk, victim witness advocate, animal control officer and code enforcement officer. Her only fault is she can’t say no, Hastings joked.

Looking back, Manchester regrets not working full-time in law enforcement. “I thought I’d only be doing it for about 10 years or so because of my age,” she said. “I should have just bit the bullet and gone full-time.”

Born and raised in Idaho Falls, she moved to the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley in 1982. She married Clee Manchester in 1997, and they shared a blended family of six kids, 12 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Clee, a former Clarkston city councilor and longtime law enforcement officer, died in 2021.

Last summer, Manchester underwent back surgery and started thinking about retiring as she tried to regain her strength.

“It’s probably time,” she said. “What I will miss the most is being around the people. I will miss the guys. Law enforcement is like a family.”

Before becoming a reserve officer and DMV employee, Manchester led a busy life, juggling multiple jobs, from bartending to bookkeeping and raising kids. For the first time, she’s figuring out how to fill all of her free hours.

“I used to love tole painting, and I may start up again,” she said. “I am an antique doll collector and I like traveling. I probably won’t sit still for long.”

Sandaine can be reached at kerris@lmtribune.com.