Arthur W. McManus, age 50, a veteran crane operator of Francis Creek, died Saturday evening at Holy Family Hospital, Manitowoc. He had suffered a stroke during the day while working at Reedsville.

Funeral services will be at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at Mittnacht Funeral Home, Manitowoc, and at 9 a.m. at St. Ann Catholic Church, Francis Creek. The Rev. Joseph Rauch will be celebrant at the solemn high Mass and burial will be in the church cemetery.

Mr. McManus was born at Eau Claire June 29, 1906, son of the late Daniel McManus and Mrs. McManus. At 16, he began working with highway and building construction crews, an occupation he pursued until his death.

He was employed in the Eau Claire area until 1938, when he came to Manitowoc. He was employed by the Bahr Construction Co. until World War II and during the war was employed by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Inc., where he was a crane operator. In this capacity he was responsible for setting delicate periscopes on submarines and placing the pre-fabricated sections on submarines under construction.

At the conclusion of the war, Mr. McManus was employed by Fred. Radandt Sons Co. Although he was an operating engineer he had earned a reputation for being one of the top crane operators in this part of Wisconsin.

His talent and ability with a crane was pressed into use on hundreds of construction projects in the northeastern part of the state from placing an object as fragile as the Lady of Fatima statue in a grotto at Holy Innocents Catholic Church at Manitowoc to hoisting and setting a bulky 25-ton boiler.

In 1932 at Proctor, Minn., he married the former Irene Veech of Mason City, In., and the couple lived at Eau Claire prior to establishing residence at Manitowoc. He was a member of St. Ann Holy Name Society and Manitowoc Knights of Columbus.

Mr. McManus is survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter, mother, Mrs. Daniel McManus of Eau Claire; two brothers, Bernard of Seattle, Wash., and Daniel of Milwaukee; six sisters. The Rosary will be recited at 7 p.m. Tuesday by the Knights of Columbus and at 8 p.m. by the Holy Name Society.

Source: page 19, Manitowoc Herald Times, Monday, November 5, 1956