Joyce Manning, a longtime member of the promo industry and founder of lapel pin supplier PerfectMatch (asi/77340) in Los Angeles, passed away on May 11.

Joyce Manning, PerfectMatch

Born into the Amish community, Manning moved to California in the 1950s and got her start in promo in a bold way: When she crashed a party at the Beverly Hills Hotel, she told an inquiring guest she could get him imprinted notepads like the ones branded with the hotel’s name, though she had scant experience in promo. She spent the next several weeks keeping her word to her first customer, and so began her career in the industry.

After about 30 years as a distributor, she switched to the supplier side with branded candles, though they soon proved to be difficult to manufacture and ship. She eventually moved into the lapel pins category with her proprietary PerfectMatch pin.

During her time in business, Manning had a strict “two meetings per day” rule and prospected by looking through the Thomas Register for product sourcing, calling companies directly and asking to speak with the owner.

Manning enjoyed a full life with many new experiences. She flew on the Concorde turbojet, became a glider pilot, rode motorcycles, appreciated fast cars and made friends around the world.

She’s survived by a husband of 20 years and two dogs. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Promotional Products Education Foundation here. Please enter “Joyce Manning” in the comments section.