Sirkeinen

The first of two reports published in local papers of Harold's life.

Harold O. Lahti TAPIOLA - Harold 0. Lahti, 82, formerly of Tapiola, passed away Sunday, May 31,1992 at the Houghton County Medical Care Facility in Hancock. He was born January 25, 1910 in Mohawk, a son of the late Oscar and Aino (Lehtinen) Lahti and attended school in Detroit and was a 1930 graduate of the Henry Ford trade School. He was employed as a machin¬ist for Ford Motor Company in L'Anse and Detroit, was also employed for Burrough Corpora¬tion, and for 13 years worked for the Houghton County Road Com-mission, retiring in 1972. On August 3, 1940, he married the former Ruth I. Peterson in Detroit. Mr. Lahti was a member of the South Range Apostolic Lutheran Church and was a life long mem¬ber of the Otter Lake Sports¬man's Club and former member of the Otter Lake Volunteer Fire Department. He was preceded in death by his parents, 2 brothers, Ralph and Larry and 1 sister, Ruth. Surviving are his wife, Ruth of Arbor Green, Houghton; 1 son, Stuart (Mary) Lahti of L'Anse; 1 daughter, Kathryn (John) Per-ala of Tamarack City; 12 grand¬children; 5 great grandchildren; and cousins in Finland. Friends may call from 4 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Mountain View Mortuary in South Range. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday at the Mountain View Mortuary with the Rev. Arvo Onermaa to offici¬ate. Burial will be in the Karki Hill Cemetery.

The second report Our second farewell came on Wednesday with Harold. He and his wife, Ruth, lived in the home now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Pesola and familv.

Although the onward march of time caught up with Harold dur¬ing his last years, causing a decline in his health, he remain-ed a fairly outgoing fellow. Most folks would have characterized him as one who generally mind-ed his own business — unless he was asked. He did, however, work diligently where his skills and talents were most likely to be beneficial for the com-munity's benefit. Harold was one of the founding members of the Otter Lake Fire Department and helped mobilize the first efforts, along with the late Jim Allen and some others, to get the first fire fighting equip-ment into the area. Unfortunately, his declining health prevented him from see¬ing much of the department's growth and progress in recent years. Although both Harold and Ruth have been away from the Otter Lake area for a few years already, the attendance at Tues-day evening's visitation at Moun-tain View Mortuary showed that a considerable number of area folks still fondly remember both him and Ruth and their contributions to the life of this community. We salute both Ben and Harold. Each in their own way helped to make our lives richer. What better epitaph could any of us have? Gazette correspondent Rudy Kemppainen writes about happenings in the Tapiola area in his column that appears weekly in The Gazette.