Jim attended SS Peter & Paul Elementary School (1948-1956) and then attended Cathedral College Prep, a minor seminary day school in Manhattan, New York (1956-1960). He then attended Iona College, New Rochelle, NY (1960-1964) where he obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree with a major in accounting. In June 1964, Jim married Helen Marie Clancy, also an Alumni of SS Peter & Paul (1948-1956). Their first son James Bernard was born in May 1965 in Bronxville, NY. Michael Thomas was born in Tampa, Florida in July 1968. Kenneth Christopher and Jeanne Marie were born in Cleveland in March 1970 and October 1971 respectively.

Jim was an accountant for the CPA firm of Peat Marwick & Mitchell, today known as KPMG.  After working on the audit staff for three years at KPMG, he then became a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on 8/7/67.  He worked in the Tampa and Cleveland field offices before heading to headquarters in the Washington, DC area. One memorable accomplishment as an agent was his participation in the Senior Command Course at Bramshill Staff College in England in 1992. He retired from the FBI on January 31, 1994, having received many commendations and awards over the course of his career. MEMORIES . After his retirement from the FBI, he worked for the Virginia State Police for a short time until he was recruited to be the Director of Field Investigations & Fraud Prevention for the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) based in Arlington, Virginia. For the next ten years, ARC necessitated international travel and brought him and Helen to Turkey, England, Scotland, Wales, France, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Canada, Mexico and Egypt.  Helen & Jim moved to a Senior Golf Club Community in Haymarket, Virginia in 2003 while still employed and both fully retired in January 2005 at age 62. In November 2005, Helen and Jim began snow birding to The Villages, Florida. In 2013, they permanently moved to The Villages.

Jim is predeceased by his parents James & Julia Curtin-Manning (born in County Kerry, Ireland), his in-laws, Bernard Clancy and Helen Flanagan Clancy (born in County Leitrim), his brother, John Manning, his sister-in-law, Anastasia O'Brien-Manning, and his brothers-in-law, John Patrick Clancy and Bernard C. Clancy. Survivors include his spouse of 62 years, Helen, four children: James (Jen), Michael (Charlene), Kenneth (Mary) Manning and Jeanne (Scott) Webster and eleven grandchildren: Joey and Jimmy; Brittany, Lindsay, Brett, Mackenzie, and Cullen; Kenny Jr (Eliza) and Keegan; and Lauren Webster-Vaughters (Sam) and Ben Webster. Mass of Christian Burial will take place in Florida in February 2025 at St. Mark the Evangelist R.C. Church in Summerfield, FL. Cremains will be interred in Fairfax Memorial Park, Fairfax, Virginia.