An assisted living home in Manitowoc is celebrating the life of one of its most traveled residents.
Ione Brick, a resident of LakeHouse Manitowoc Assisted Living, was born on this day 102 years ago in the Clipper City, although she wouldn’t stay here forever.
After marrying her husband, Delmar, the couple moved to New Ulm, Minnesota, where he taught at Martin Luther College.
“We lived right on the campus,” Ione told SeehaferNews.com. “It was an interesting life because you got to know people from not just New UIm, but then they came from other places. They belonged to the same church affiliation.”
Ione was an elementary school teacher until Delmar earned a scholarship to study at the University of Rome in Italy.
Ione eventually joined him in Italy, and recalled, “After he had finished his schooling there and his training, then we traveled in Italy and in Germany and several other countries in Europe.”
Her favorite place to visit was Germany because “My grandparents were both German background…and then my husband spoke German too, so he could understand it,” she revealed. “When we traveled in Germany, we had no trouble understanding people or working there because we had this German background.”
This experience led to a job at a travel agency in New Ulm, which she said was a very interesting experience.
“We met a lot of new people because they, you know, had never traveled before,” Ione said with a smile. “And then you’d have to figure out exactly how much it would cost them.”
Ione and Delmar came back to Manitowoc after his retirement in 1987 and moved into a home very familiar to her.
“My father was a builder and the home that they lived in, of course, he had built,” she explained. “And then, when he was ready to give it up, my mother called and asked whether I’d be interested in buying their home.”
That residence on 26th Street is still standing to this day.
Ione and Delmar brought three daughters into the world: Lois, Nona, and Mary.
Lois was in town from Colorado to celebrate Ione’s 102nd birthday, and she said she is very impressed by her mother’s ability not to let anything faze her, something she attributed to her relationship with God.
She also noted that in their retirement, Ione and Delmar spent their time volunteering in the community, specifically at the Pinecrest Historical Village and Rahr-West Art Museum.
