Famie Laakso

Famie Laakso, 93, passed away on Wednesday, August 3, 2016 at Essentia Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Duluth, MN after a brief hospitalization following a stroke. Famie resided at Willow Manor Assisted Living in Iron River, WI during the last six months after living the majority of her life in Maple, WI. She was born on August 20, 1922 in Maple, WI to Fred and Emilia (Pellinen) Maki.

She is preceded in death by her parents, husband Martin A. Laakso and brothers Toivo and Fred (Lillian) Maki.

Famie is survived by two children, Kathryn (Mark) Otterness and Martin Laakso; four grandchildren, Naomi (Brad) Pitlick, Marcy (Steve) Tobalsky, Phillip and Thomas Otterness; six great-grandchildren, Hayley, Carissa, Lucas, Jillian and Isaac Tobalsky and Aaron Pitlick; three sisters-in-law, Aunie (Laakso) Maki, Ruth (Jurvelin) Laakso and Agnes (Johnson) Laakso and many nieces and nephews.

Famie left home at age seventeen and worked in Superior, WI; Detroit, MI; Seattle, WA and Minneapolis, MN before returning to Maple to marry Martin Laakso on November 4, 1950. Martin and Famie farmed the family farm from the 1950’s to the early 1980’s. Famie also worked as a nursing aide at Parkland and Middle River Care Centers, retiring in 1984.

Famie was an avid reader, enjoyed bingo, puzzle books, flowers in the yard and her love of animals, keeping house cats and giving forever homes and love to shelter kitties. In the early years, she participated and supported local 4-H clubs and the Maple VFD Auxiliary. Over the years she also loved communicating with her large circle of friends by telephone. Famie’s first language was Finnish, learning English in grade school, and she was very proud of her Finnish Heritage.

Many thanks to the kind and caring staff at Willow Manor Assisted Living and the palliative care staff on 3 East at St. Mary’s Medical Center.

Visitation will begin at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, August 10, 2016 at the Lenroot-Maetzold Funeral Home, 1209 E. 5th Street and continue until the 11:00 AM funeral service with Pastor Tom Lindberg officiating. A light lunch will be held from 1:00 – 3:00 PM at the Maple Community Center, 4649 S. Wuori Road, Maple, WI followed with interment at the Hillcrest Cemetery in Oulu, WI.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Famie’s name to the Old Brule Heritage Society or the Douglas County Humane Society.

To leave an online condolence or to sign the guestbook, please visit www.lenroot-maetzold.com .