Manfredini was born in Pievepelago, Modena, Emilia-Romagna. She moved to Des Moines, Iowa in 1920 with her husband Riccardo Manfredini, whom she raised four children with, of whom three were living at the time of her death. She worked in an ammunition factory during World War II and cleaned houses until she was 90. Her husband died at the age of 79 in 1965, when she was 67. After her husband's death she lived alone until moving into a nursing home at the age of 110. Besides four children, she even had seven grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and twelve great-great-grandchildren.