Manuela Iris Pinckney (1957-2024) passed away at age 67 in Seaview, WA. She was born January 6th, 1957 in Triberg im Schwarzwald to Horst Duffner and Inge Gutzeit. She was raised in Triberg im Schwarzwald before attending University of Heidelberg. Upon graduation, she married to Timothy Pinckney , an army soldier in the United States military, in Heidelberg, Germany in 1984. They gave birth to Emily Patricia Savannah Pinckney on April 10th, 1993. They moved to Washington state in 1995, where Timothy Pinckney was stationed at Fort Lewis.
Manuela was considered a genius, activist, nature lover, artist, music enthusiast, patron of the arts, tech innovator, and a champion of community. She was bold. She was hilarious. She was kind. She led with empathy. She donated thousands of dollars to social justice causes and spent thousands of more hours volunteering for those causes. Manuela fought for immigrant rights, environmental rights, and labor rights. She advocated for tech accessibility with former Governor Gary Locke. Manuela worked for the City of Tacoma at Tacoma Public Utilities as a project manager in Information Technology for 25 years and was the president of her labor union chapter of AFSCME. During retirement, she fought for labor rights of municipal and farm workers in WA. She provided free tax services to immigrant families, volunteered her time at the humane society, and volunteered at her church. She traveled all over the world, Tunisia being her favorite destination. She spoke fluent German, English, Spanish, and French. Her friend circle was always a global one. She found joy in many things: hiking every coastline she came across, spending time with her daughter and dogs, reading, trying new foods, dancing, thrifting, and watching foreign films. She loved the storytelling of music and believed you can see inside someone’s soul with their songs.
Manuela Pinckney was loved by many and her service impacted so many lives; her impact spans past borders and will last long, even after her departure. Her memory and legacy continues through her daughter, Emily Pinckney, whose work in environmental justice and state policy is inspired by Manuela’s sense of community.
We invite anyone in the community to come celebrate her and share memories with her family, Emily and Timothy Pinckney on May 9th, at Owen Beach Pavilion in Tacoma from 4PM - 7PM. Please contact Manuela’s son-in-law Kevin at 650-888-2342 or kmgrant23@gmail.com in regards to the memorial.
