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Vail Daily obituary: Manuel (Manny) Bautista, 1947-2015

Manuel (Manny) Bautista, age 67 years young, died suddenly on Feb. 3 while skiing in Vail. The son of the late Gil and late Consuelo Bautista, and husband of Richard (Rick) Gallant, Manny passed away while engaging in one of his many hobbies — perfectly appointed in a new outfit, on a favorite run in a valley he loved.

Manny was raised in a close-knit family in the Philippines and Guam, the immediate members of which had all predeceased him. He moved to the United States to continue his medical training in surgery at Yale University from 1971 through 1975. He completed his residency at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York before taking a position as a board-certified emergency physician at Lawrence General Hospital in Massachusetts, where he practiced from 1975 until 1993. Medical personnel there remember Manny fondly as a dedicated teacher and doctor with a great sense of humor.

Manny met his husband, Rick Gallant, in 1985. They married in 2013. The two moved to California in 1993, where Manny accepted a position with Janzen, Johnston & Rockwell Emergency Medical Group as an emergency room physician at White Memorial Hospital in East L.A. He worked tirelessly at the city hospital — often under grueling conditions — without losing his composure or ability to make the ER personnel laugh. He rarely missed a moment to mentor fellow interns, nurses and medical professionals. His colleagues remember him as “genuine” and “fun.”

When he wasn’t working, Manny was passionate about cooking and gardening at the home he shared with Rick in the Sunset Strip area of L.A. The two traveled extensively, skiing in Austria, France, Italy, Switzerland and Vail. It was in Vail that Manny felt especially at home. In 2012, Manny retired and the couple purchased a condo in Lionshead Village. Over the past few years, Manny and Rick spent winters skiing with the Vail Club 50, and it was with these friends Manny passed away on the slopes.

In addition to skiing, cooking and gardening, family and friends will remember Manny for his big smile and laugh; his love for and commitment to his husband and partner of 30 years; his generosity and love for his stepchildren, grandchildren, nieces and nephews; as a mentor to many in the medical profession; and for his sense of fashion and style, of course.

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He is survived by Rick, and by his stepson Dan, Dan’s wife Krystyn and their two children Brody and Cole, his stepdaughter, Jackie, numerous brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews, long-distance relatives in Guam and the Philippines, and his mother-in-law, Cecelia Gallant, of Exeter, New Hampshire. Upon Manny’s request, his body will be cremated and his remains will be dispersed on Vail Mountain at a celebration of his life this spring. Additionally, friends and colleagues are planning to celebrate his life at services in Los Angeles and the Boston area.


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