Elsie T. Lundein, 91, passed away peacefully on June 17, 2009, at the North Shore Care Center in Grand Marais, MN.
Elsie was born on January 3, 1918, to Finnish immigrants Hilma and Anselm Tolonen in Ely, MN. She grew up in Ely, where she attended grade school, high school, and junior college. She took a correspondence course to become a stenographer, took a Civil Service test, and was hired to work for the government in Washington, DC during the war years.
When World War II ended, Hjalmer Lundein, a young soldier from Ely went to Washington to visit Elsie. Their families had been friends for years. Elsie and Hjalmer married in 1945 and remained in the Washington Area. They raised their family in Rockville, MD. A number of years after the death of her husband, Elsie moved to the North Shore to be near her daughter.
Elsie was proud of her Finnish heritage. She revered her parents. She loved her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren more than life itself. Elsie spent her time instilling good values, enjoying friends and family, traveling in Scandinavia and Europe, teaching Sunday School, and quilting and staying active in the Women’s Circles at church. She was also a voracious reader.
Elsie was preceded in death by her husband Hjalmer and her son Richard.
She is survived by daughter Phyllis Olson (Grand Marais), granddaughters Maren Olson (Salisbury, MD) and Amanda Olson (Grand Marais), grandson Christoper (Kerri, nee Johnson – Ely), great-grandsons Eli Olson and Cedric Rock, sister Lois Andrews, nieces Sheryl Conner and Valerie Downer, and nephew Harry Andrews.
A memorial service celebrating Elsie’s life was held at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Grand Marais on Monday, June 22.
Memorials to Bethlehem Lutheran Church Mission Endowment Fund or the North Shore Care Center in Grand Marais.
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