A Caring History
It all began in 1950 when a group of community leaders saw a need for a not-for-profit senior living facility based on sound principles and values. That philosophy continues today with our board of local visionary leaders who oversee our operations and governance. Offering excellent care and a variety of affordable senior living accommodations is the primary guiding principle in every decision made. Over the years many changes were made as Shady Lane continued to be sensitive to community needs. Currently, Shady Lane offers short-term rehab and long-term placement within its 50-bed nursing home and a variety of assisted living environments totaling 155 units.


Oral History Project
In 2011, Shady Lane launched an oral history project believing that our residents are treasures of cultural information. While many read history, our residents lived history and we find the stories they tell about growing up in the depression, living through wars, working in the ship yards, and being Rosie the Riveters, are valuable in establishing a sense of place. They have worked with students, offering stories of real history, they have worked with the Friends of the Manitowoc River to tell the story of the river, students at UW-Manitowoc Center, and in 2011, this project was part of the Wisconsin Oral History Conference. We are grateful to everyone who has contributed to the story of our community. It is a generous gift that lives on.

A Working Mom’s Story
Single moms are not unusual today but when Irene Burton was a single mom in the 1960s she was in the minority. At 90, she offers us a little better vision because she has the advantage of hindsight, which we know is 20/20. Having walked in the shoes of so

Housing & Babies after World War II
Post War Housing First, it was the ship workers, then it was the returning soldiers and their new families–housing in Manitowoc in the 1940s was hard to come by. Gert, whose parents lived on a farm near Denmark, found room for her young family with her parents, eventually purchasing their

Living History with Lorraine Liese
In an age when every college student is worried about their major and their career path, Lorraine offered wisdom and reassurance. Don’t worry about your major, she advised, study what interests you because you don’t know where it will take you and you’ll work in a lot of professions in

Romance, Work, and World War II
Teenagers & Make-Up Make-up has always been a rite of passage into young-womanhood. While their mothers’ generation snitched corn starch from the kitchen to take the glow off their face, these ladies moved smoothly into the Max Factor make-up age. The day you bought your first tube of lipstick was