Leo Leland Shilts, 84, of Lutsen passed away March 31, 2017 after a lengthy illness at the North Shore Care Center in Grand Marais.
Leo was born Dec. 1, 1932 in Morse, Wis. to Roy and Mary (Flynn) Shilts. He was the baby of 13 children.
Leo attended school in Glidden, Wis. He worked for Falk Manufacturing and Chain Belt Co. in Milwaukee from 1950-1953. Later in 1953 Leo, along with one of his brothers, moved to Breckenridge, Colo. to work as a logger. While in Breckenridge he was drafted into the Army where he served the next two years in the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg, N.C. In 1955, after returning from the Army, Leo moved to Minnesota to work for Tomahawk Logging.
On June 23, 1956 he married Arlene Santama in Ashland, Wis. Shortly after their wedding they moved to Finland, Minn., where Leo worked the next two years for Hunkin Construction building the railroad to Taconite Harbor. When that project was completed he worked for various different loggers in the area.
In 1962 he started his own logging operation and continued until he retired in 2001. Leo’s heart was always in the woods working on and running logging equipment.
After retirement, Leo worked parttime mowing greens at the Superior National Golf Course in Lutsen.
Leo and Arlene had two children, Daniel and Jane.
Leo will be greatly missed by his wife of 61 years, Arlene Shilts of Lutsen; daughter Jane (Gregory) Eide of Custer, N.D.; granddaughter Jennifer (Rick) Madden of Duluth, Minn.; grandsons Bradley Shilts and fiancée Alexa Franks of Castle Rock, Colo., and Larry Eide of Sturgis, S.D.; great-grandson Nicholas Madden of Duluth; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Leo is preceded in death by his parents; son Daniel; and 12 siblings.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Leo to The Fisher House Foundation, 111 Rockville Pike, Ste. 420, Rockville, MD 20850 and/or the North Shore Care Center, 515 Fifth Ave. W., Grand Marais, MN 55604.
A social gathering for family and friends will be held at the Schroeder Town Hall in Schroeder on Sunday, April 9, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. A light luncheon will be provided. Please bring stories to share!
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