1909 – Sisters Hilary Hautzinger, Magdalen Moorman, Daniel Engelbert, Benedicta Stick, Patrick Rankin, Victima Bichler, and Marcella Schroeder
To say that Holy Family Memorial hospital in Manitowoc wouldn’t exist without the support of God is actually not too far off.
While Christianity has remained at the center of everything they do, HFM’s survival through the early years was entirely dependent on the Franciscan Sisters of Christian charity.
Sister Kay Klackner explained to Seehafer News, “Part of how Holy Family was able to exist is that there were enough sisters that actually did everything. Every department that they had at that time, which, of course, wasn’t as complex as it is today.”
While the community relied on the hospital for their healthcare, Sister Kay also notes that the Sisters played a vital role in helping the community in other ways.
“We had the vegetable gardens, and the community went through the times of need that people didn’t have what they needed, including food,” she noted.” Often there were people at the door. The sisters would feed and take care of the railroad when passed, and the guys would jump off the boxcars and they were there to get their coffee and get to get their meals”
When the Great Depression began, Sister Clerence Hennesy wrote in her diary that the hospital didn’t feel the pressure the same as the community.
She wrote “The sisters always had enough for the patients, themselves, and anyone needing help.”
In 1947, Holy Family Hospital was thriving, and were able to begin construction on an expansion project known as the “1949 wing”, which was dedicated in March of 1949.
Two years later, the Holy Family School of Nursing was accredited, making it the first accredited three year program in the state.
The school would remain open through 1976, having graduated 871 nurses throughout the 56 years of operation, including Sister Kay’s mother.
In fact, Sister Kay tells us, “Myself and all of my siblings were born at Holy Family, so Holy Family has a very special place in my heart.”
The public is invited to the hospital atrium at 2:00 p.m. Saturday (September 28th) for an event honoring 125 years of Holy Family Memorial, which will be followed by a mass led by Bishop David Ricken.
