John H. Suutala

IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP, Mich. - John H. Suutala, 85, of Vanderhagen Road, Ironwood Township, passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, at home on Friday, March 13, 2015, after a lengthy illness of COPD and chronic pneumonia.

John was born Nov. 4, 1929, in Ironwood, son of the late Johannes and Lydia (Teerimaki) Suutala. He served four years in the U.S. Air Force. For three of those years he was stationed near Leicester, England, where he met his beautiful bride of 61 years, Grace "Toni" Cheney.

On returning home to Ironwood Township, he worked in the mines, and for many years he worked at Bessemer Plywood, before retiring from his work at the Gogebic County Road Commission. He volunteered his service to the Ironwood Township Board as a trustee and the Iron County Community Credit Union as chairman, as well as board seats for the Gogebic County Veterans Affairs, Soil Conservation District and other state and community organizations.

John, known as "Herbie" to many in the community, was a very charismatic, funny and caring man. He loved hunting and fishing in his earlier years, but his passion and craft was woodworking. He had a workshop that would be the envy of many craftsmen. He also adored his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

He is survived by his loving wife, Toni; three sons, Howard (Kristia) Suutala, of Wilton, Calif., Rock (Janice) Suutala, of Neenah, Wis., and David Suutala, of Hurley; two daughters, Kym Suutala (Jerry) and Karen Pertile (Dave), both of Ironwood; grandchildren, Carissa (Corrado) Pannuzzo, of Neenah, Makenzie (Krysten) Wilman, of Gilbert, Ariz., and Samanth Pertile (Michael), of Lansing; and great-grandchildren, Auggie and Leo Pannuzzo.

Also surviving is a sister, Karen (Anders) Tingstad, of Bessemer; nieces, Kelly Tingstad, of Portland, Ore., and Anna Tingstad, of Bessemer; a nephew, Matt (Melissa) Tingstad, of Bessemer; and a brother-in-law, David Cheney, of Leicester, England.

John's humor and compassion will be sadly missed.

The family would like to extend a special thanks to the staff at Aspirus Grand View Hospital for their care and support. A memorial service will be held in the spring at the Ketola-Burla Funeral Home in Ironwood. Inurnment will be at the Sunset Acres Cemetery in Ironwood Township.

Private online condolences may be sent to rangefsi@up.net.

Arrangements are by Range Funeral Service and Crematory, Ketola-Burla Funeral Home of Ironwood.