Edna Esther Lehti

Edna Esther Lehti, Cromwell, died Friday, April 26, 2002 in Mercy Hospital, Moose Lake. Edna the cook, Edna the Scrabble Queen, Grandma Edna, Ma, Mother. She was born January 16, 1913 in Salo (Kalevala Township), MN to John and Anna Lundin. She was one of ten children in a close-knit family. Edna was a lifelong member of the Eagle Lake Apostolic Lutheran Church. She walked and skied to grade school. There were no school buses, so she boarded out to attend high school, first in Moose Lake, then Cloquet and graduating from Cromwell High School in 1932. She taught herself to drive in a cow pasture. After high school she did housework in Newport and Duluth, MN. She married Ervin Lehti in 1936. They farmed and raised a family near Cromwell. She became a widow in 1972. Edna loved to cook. In her lifetime, she cooked at a boarding house, lumber camp, restaurants, Cloquet Hospital, Nopeming Sanitorium, Cromwell Elementary and High Schools, St. Scholastica Priory and several resorts. She cooked the first meal at the Cloquet Hospital and retired as kitchen supervisor at Lakeshore Lutheran Home in 1976. After retirement, Edna moved back to Cromwell and taught the details of farm life to her daughter. She enjoyed cooking, tending her flowers, doing for others, and driving to see friends and family. Her health gradually declined. Edna taught herself how to drive and how to survive. She was a thoughtful, kind woman who would always share whatever she had. She didn't judge others; she just tried to help them. She will be missed. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ervin in 1972; grandson, Kirk Simi in 1997; her parents and all her siblings; brothers, Waino, Ivar, Bill, Art and Eino Lundin; and sisters, Milia Layon, Lydia Heittola, Saima Koivisto and Emma Hietala. Edna is survived by her son, Roger (Barb) Lehti, Cromwell; daughters, Mary Ann Lehti, Culver, Nancy (Bob) Clark, Brookston, Phyllis (Jim Caspersen, Sr.) Lehti, Cromwell; 10 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren and a large extended family and many good friends. Funeral Services were held at 3:00 P.M. on Wednesday, May 1, 2002 in Eagle Lake Apostolic Lutheran Church, south of Cromwell on Highway 73. Interment was in Eagle Lake Cemetery.