A Ghost In Wisconsin!

Posted June 24, 2005
Ghosts haunt Manitowoc, expert says
BY sean schultz Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers
www.wisinfo.com/heraldtimes/news/archive/local_21540901.shtml

Ghosts in Manitowoc County? Green Bay? Your own back yard?

You better believe it — at least according to the guy who co-wrote “The Wisconsin Guide to Haunted Locations.”

The area is loaded with things that go bump in the night, said Chad Lewis, who will appear with two other paranormal investigators at the first Unexplained Conference in Green Bay this weekend. Authors Linda Godfrey and Richard Hendricks, who co-authored “Weird Wisconsin: Your Travel Guide to Wisconsin’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets” also will tell tales of spooky sightings.
Stories have circulated for years about the mystery surrounding JFK Prep, a former seminary in St. Nazianz.
According to research by Lewis and others, many people believe that the ghosts of former residents still lurk about the now-dilapidated buildings of JFK Prep. Tales of physical and sexual abuse become theories speculating on the origins of the hauntings. Many believe the school was constructed in the early 1900s by a sect of German Catholics who came to the United States to practice pedophilia, incest, and homosexuality.
Wild tales of ghosts, demons, and other strange anomalies persist still today. It is said that numerous people have encountered the ghosts of former children who were abused and whose spirits have chosen to remain on their old school grounds.

Then there is St. Mary’s Home in Manitowoc. Once an orphanage and senior living home, the city at some point in its long history gave St. Mary’s the option to house one or the other. The home chose to keep the seniors, and orphans were transported to another facility.

Since that time, Lewis said, residents have reported hearing the sounds of young children playing and have seen the ghosts of young children running around. Residents report these “children” as being out of place as through they were from another time period.

The other main ghost is that of an old man who has been seen walking his phantom dog down the hall. Many residents have complained to the staff about the loud dog that has been heard throughout the facility.
The Unexplained Conference has drawn audiences of 200 to 300 people at each of its 20 stops around the state, and Lewis expects to see that many Saturday.

The presenters will offer information they have on local haunts “and let you look at all sides of the issues, then come to your own conclusions,” Lewis said.

The speakers all have careers outside their paranormal work. Lewis is a grant writer based in Eau Claire but as a psychology student studying why people believe in the paranormal, he got hooked on the subject.

“Ten years later I’m left with more questions than answers,” he said.
Godfrey, a former reporter with a keen interest in werewolves in Wisconsin, is a full-time author in Elkhorn, and Hendricks is a legal researcher at a law firm in Madison.

Lewis said many of us have heard spooky tales about the places around us, and many have had otherworldly experiences. He said he believes that fear tinged with denial is what keeps more people from reporting personal stories involving the supernatural. At the conference, they can feel free to open up.

“My favorite part (of the presentation) is when the people tell their stories. There are more than we could ever, ever investigate,” he said.

HTR staff writer Pat Pankratz contributed to this report.