A chat with Wisconsin’s oldest living resident

What’s it like to witness more than a century of history firsthand? I sat down with Evelyn Houghton at Heartland House—a remarkable woman who recently celebrated her 110th birthday. As we began our conversation about the sweeping changes and challenges of her lifetime, her granddaughter Heather joined us, turning our interview into a heartfelt, multigenerational walk down memory lane.
Evelyn was born in 1915 in Swampscott, Massachusetts. She shares some of her story from each stage of life:

“Swampscott had no hospital, with the closest hospital being in Lynn, Massachusetts. The Doctor would come pick my mother up, as my parents didn’t have a car.
My heritage is English and Irish. My father was the superintendent of the school in Attenborough, Massachusetts, and my mother was a second-grade teacher.
I remember my dad had a rowboat, and we would go rowing in the ocean. It was such a good memory.

I also had a younger brother, who has since passed away,
I met my husband in high school at Marquette, Michigan. One day after school, a bunch of us girls were hanging out, talking, and just having fun. Suddenly, a ford coupe went by and we all kept looking at this guy in the car.
He went around the block and came back. Well, we ended up becoming high school sweethearts, and eventually we were married.
His name was Kenerie Don Mc Clean. We had three children: Trudy, Mary Ellen, and Bill. Mary Ellen passed away around 30 years old. This was a very difficult time for us.
I went to school at Radcliff, close to Harvard. They ended up having the same professors, as Radcliff had no faculty. I got a degree in psychology. At the time, there were so many teachers that I wanted to pursue psychology, but I ended up teaching children with polio in the Marquette, Michigan, Hospital. The children were having reconstructive surgery on arms and legs from this crippling disease. The teacher who was hired for the position wanted to return to Chicago. So I took the position. The children would have homework while they were recovering from the surgeries.
I taught fifth grade in Iron River, and my husband taught industrial arts. We weren’t far from Detroit. Don had passed from heart disease.
In 1961, I remarried to Marvin Houghton in Marquette, Michigan. He was a consultant, and I was still teaching fifth grade. Marvin had two children from previous marriage, Nancy and Douglas.
We would sell maple syrup and also had bees for a while. Marvin was a wood carver and made many things, including a sculpture of me.
We traveled to all the main 48 states and to England, where Hoghton Castle is located, which is part of his family’s heritage. Hoghton Castle was built in the 13th century as a regular tower for defensive buildings, just about 2/3 miles from Houghton, in Lancashire, England. It takes its name from the Houghton family, its historical owners, since the 12th century. They spell it Hoghton in England, while the spelling was changed to Houghton.
This hilltop castle, which was strategic for defense in England, looks over the lakes of the Irish Sea and Wales.
Kings and queens, authors and artists have all visited Hoghton Castle. The guest book includes the likes of William III and Queen Mary, George V and Queen Mary, as well as Dickens and Shakespeare.
Marvin went to China with a group for about three weeks. He loved hunting with his grandson and being at Mirror Lake.
We ended up living in De Pere, Wisconsin, where we had wonderful friends and neighbors.
It’s been an interesting life!”

Evelyn now resides at Heartland House in Wautoma. In 2025, she received a proclamation from the City of Wautoma and Waushara County.