Lillie M. Lehto

Lehto, Lillie M.
(Wasti)
Appleton, Wisconsin

Age 89, died Monday morning, May 23, 2005, at Peabody Manor. She was born December 27, 1915 in Bessemer, Michigan, eldest of seven children of the late Urho and Hannah (Maki) Wasti. Lillie grew up in Brantwood, Wisconsin and graduated from Tripoli High School. On April 15, 1939 she married George E. Lehto in Brantwood in a Lutheran church built in 1904 by several of her uncles who had immigrated from Finland. From 1939 until her husband’s retirement following 20 years in the U. S. Navy, she and George were stationed in Great Lakes, Illinois; Norfolk, Virginia; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; and Argentia, Newfoundland. In 1959 they moved to Wisconsin and lived in Superior, Clear Lake, and Manawa while George pursued a second career in education as a teacher, principal and guidance counselor. Lillie and George celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1989. Following George’s death in 1990, she moved to Appleton and enjoyed living at Heritage Retirement Community. Lillie was active in St. Paul Lutheran Church, Manawa and later became a member of Faith Lutheran in Appleton. She was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother. Her interests included cooking, baking, sewing, crafts and rughooking, for which she received many awards. She is survived by three children; George L. Lehto, Appleton; Lynne (Gerald) Finch, New London; their daughters Sarah Finch and husband Reginald Newton, Chicago; Abigail and Jon (Engelsgjerd) Finch, Milwaukee; Duke (Erin) Lehto Brookfield; their children, Joseph Francis, Nicole Lillie and Danielle Lucia Lehto, Brookfield, one great-grandson, Henry Thomas Finch, Milwaukee; and one brother Robert (Shirley) Wasti, Hastings, Minnesota. She was preceded in death by her husband and five brothers.

A memorial service will be held at 10 am, Thursday, May 26, 2005 at Wichmann Funeral Home Tri-County Chapel. The family will receive relatives and friends directly at the chapel from 9:00 AM until the hour of the service. Following the service interment will be next to her husband in Wisconsin Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery, King, Wisconsin. A memorial fund has been established in Lillie’s name for her ancestral family church, Trinity Lutheran, Prentice, Wisconsin.

WICHMANN FUNERAL HOME
Tri-County Chapel
3212 South Oneida Street
Menasha, WI 549852
(920) 832-9905