Manuel “Manny” Barrenchea at 95 years of age, went to join Dean Barrenchea his wife of 63 years in heaven early this morning. Manny was a native Nevadan born in the small town of Austin June 17th, 1919. He attended Churchill County High school where he was an Allstate football player and outstanding athlete. After high school, he and his brother Tony joined the Army Air Force, and prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, spent the next three years in China. He and his brother were on the first ship, the Mariposa, to embark from the West coast traveling to Australia, then to India, then over the hump into China, to relieve the AEF “the American expeditionary force”, more commonly known as the Flying Tigers. After bravely serving their country for 3 years in China, the Barrenchea brothers made their way back to the United States where he met his wife to be, Dean Griffith. After a short time living as civilians, the Barrenchea brothers decided to reenlist into the Air Force. Although they faced many obstacles, they were able to serve together for 16 of their 22 year military career- an unofficial record. After retiring from the military in 1963, Manny returned to the town of Fallon where he became County Clerk and Treasurer serving for 5 terms, 4 of which were unopposed. He retired from public service in 1985. He enjoyed retirement, going to the senior citizen center, socializing with old friends, old colleagues, and vets. He truly enjoyed spending time with his family. He is survived by two sons Kenneth Barrenchea/ (Linda) of Reno and Gary Barrenchea/ (Kim) of Fallon, as well as his eight grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren. A military funeral service will be held in the Fallon Cemetery this Friday, October 3rd, 2014 at 4pm. We will also be holding a Celebration of Life this Sunday, October 5th, 2014 at 1pm at the American Legion Hall in Fallon,
Nevada in remembrance of his extraordinary life.
