About us

John and Katie Shanley were married for 56 years, grew up in Kewanna, IN and lived most of their lives in South Bend, IN. They raised a family of five children- Patrick, Kevin, Mike, Ann and Joe.

John taught biology at John Adams High School for 38 years while Katie was primarily a stay-at-home Mom. Both were very active in the South Bend community, as volunteers and advocates for a wide variety of causes as well as being longtime parishioners at Little Flower Catholic Church. John “never met a stranger” and Katie was a founding member of the St. Joseph County Right to Life chapter and it’s first President. They both believed in the sanctity of life, were tireless volunteers and went to Washington, DC for the March for Life. John passed away in 2012 and Katie in 2015.

Their children established the John and Katie Shanley Legacy of Life Foundation (a 501C3 non-profit organization) to honor their legacy while continuing the work they believed in and to promote the “option of adoption”.

Through generous donations we were able to contribute to an advertising campaign in South Bend, IN promoting the Option of Adoption 

The kickoff from our initial fund raiser started with a check for $25,000 and quickly grew to almost $50,000

Ann Shanley ~ When our daughter was 5 we adopted twins, Tori and Tre when they were 14 months old.  They were considered "special needs" as they were a sibling group and bi-racial.  While Tre has some lingering effects from pre-natal issues, they are both excelling in school and socially.   I am so thankful their birth mother made the decision to put them up for adoption.  I cannot imagine our family without them.

Known as the anniversary of adopting a child 

Click on the links below to access various adoption resources.