50 Years and Counting — Ecumen Lakeshore Team Member Celebrates Milestone Anniversary
50 Years and Counting…
Ecumen Lakeshore team member celebrates milestone anniversary
By Lisa Hawks | October 9, 2026
SHOREVIEW, MN (October 9, 2026) — In 1975, when Cathy Firth started at Lakeshore as a dishwasher working alongside her mom, Gloria, in the kitchen, she knew she was in the right place.
“When I started there, making $2.12 an hour, the ladies working in the kitchen just wrapped me in their arms and I knew I’d found home right away,” Cathy said.
What she didn’t realize then is that it would be her work home for the next 50 years, because Ecumen Lakeshore is still home to Cathy. With no immediate plans to retire, she recently celebrated her 50 years with her colleagues, family, friends, as well as Lakeshore residents and tenants.
“In 50 years and counting, Cathy’s impact goes far beyond the years she’s put in,” said Cyrus Batheja, Ecumen president & CEO. “It’s really about the lives she’s touched and the relationships she’s built over the years, which is evident in the people who are here celebrating her today.”
Over the years, she’s taken on a number of roles, including becoming the first woman to serve as Lakeshore’s Environmental Services Manager. Now the receptionist, Cathy has seen incredible changes during her tenure and she’s shouldered tremendous responsibility, such as helping to move residents to Central High School (the highest point in Duluth) during the benzene spill in 1992. Through it all, she has found people — both her colleagues and the residents she serves — that she considers family.
And speaking of family, in addition to her mom who worked at Lakeshore in the 1970s, Cathy’s son and grandson also worked there – marking four generations of her family serving the Duluth community at Lakeshore.
Due to her years of service and dedication to the organization, Cathy is known as Lakeshore’s historian, but as Ecumen Lakeshore executive director, Blaine Gamst said, “Cathy doesn’t just remember Lakeshore’s history. She helped write the story.”
“Ecumen has been really good to me,” Cathy said. “And it really is home for me. This is my family.”
About Ecumen
Ecumen is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing innovative housing, health care and community-based services that support older adults and strengthen communities. Mission-driven since its founding in 1862, Ecumen’s legacy of service reflects a commitment to honoring those it serves. Ecumen is based in Shoreview, Minn., and provides housing options such as independent living, assisted living, memory care, short-term rehabilitation and long-term care. Its diverse in-home and community-based services include home care, hospice, physical and occupational therapy, and adult day services. For more information, visit www.ecumen.org.
CELEBRATE CATHY FIRTH'S 50 YEARS OF SERVICE (and counting) | Oct. 6th from 1pm - 3pm
When: October 6th from 1:00pm – 3:00pm
Where: Ecumen Lakeshore — The Grill
Address: 4002 London Rd, Duluth, MN 55804
Cathy Firth has been blessing Ecumen Lakeshore for 50 years!
Please join us in celebrating her, the countless lives she has touched, the relationships she has built, and the commitment she has shown across five decades. Cathy has made (and continues to make) a lasting impact on our community and we’re excited to show our gratitude with this celebration.
Join us! Attendees are encouraged to wear black & white.
For more information, contact Jana: JanaWarner@ecumen.org | 218-625-7822
Resident Botanist Transforms Ecumen Lakeshore Grounds
Three years ago, when most people looked at the grounds of Ecumen Lakeshore, they saw a lawn. But when Clayton Oslund looked, he saw a botanical garden. It just needed to be created, and he was the guy to do it.
Clayton had just moved into The Crest at Ecumen Lakeshore with his impeccable credentials: former botany and horticulture faculty member at the University of Minnesota, Waseca, and former nursery business owner. He went straightaway to Lakeshore management and got permission to transform the landscape, starting with plants he moved from his former home.
What once was only a lawn is now the Lakeshore Botanical Garden, which you can tour on Facebook. Clayton is the Volunteer Curator.
Recently, Clayton was profiled in The Senior Reporter, a Duluth publication. Editor Burton Laine wrote: “When I walked around the campus with Clayton, what I really enjoyed was not only his enthusiasm for interesting and unusual plants, but his stories. He continuously told stories about the plants, where they came from, why he wanted to try them here, the challenges, and on and on.” You can read the complete story here.
Clayton works continuously transforming the Ecumen Lakeshore landscape and has enlisted the help of other residents by encouraging them to adopt a garden that they can see out their windows. Also, he continues to use his connections in the nursery industry to get donations of interesting plants.
“Clayton has made such a difference here,” said Roxanne Sternberg, residence manager of The Crest. “One of our goals at Ecumen is to change how people think about aging, and Clayton personifies that value. He did not retire here. He continues to practice his craft every day in ways that make this a better place for everyone.”
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