Diem and Huong Nguyen with their son Hung Victor Nihn Wguyen
Froedtert Holy Family Memorial in Manitowoc has its finger prints all over Wisconsin history.
The Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity opened up the hospital in 1881 in the 1100 block of South 23rd Street, making it the first hospital in the City of Manitowoc.
Additionally, as we previously reported, in November of 1951, the Holy Family School of Nursing became the first accredited three-year program in the state.
The school would remain open for 56 years, ceasing operations in 1976.
Sister Kay Klackner tells Seehafer News that school was a vital piece to the Holy Family medical system.
“What I understand happened is that there were other regulations coming up, different models of teaching,” she noted. “That is what helped to close it at the time that it did.”
However, prior to its closing, the school also helped pave the way for a change in ideology.
In 1970, for the first time in school history, a male nurse graduated from the program. Another piece of Wisconsin history was made at Holy Family Hospital in 1975.
Vietnamese refugees Diem and Huong Nguyen moved to Manitowoc and gave birth to their son Hung Victor Nihn Wguyen, who is believed to be the first child born of Vietnamese refugee parents in Wisconsin.
Sister Kay’s family actually played a role in that historic moment.
“My parents were some of the sponsors to help them be here in the United States,” she revealed. “At that time, they were coming here and needed the support to be able to establish their lives here in our country. And so Holy Family was a part of that, as well as my parents.”
The public is invited to celebrate 125 years of Froedtert Holy Family Memorial on Saturday (September 28th).
A ceremony will be held in the hospital atrium at 2:00 p.m., followed by a mass led by Bishop David Ricken.
