John H. Suutala

IRONWOOD, Mich. - John H. Suutala, 85, of 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, to the late Johannes and Lydia (Teerimaki) Suutala.

He served four years in the U.S. Air Force, in which three of these 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; brother-in-law, David Cheney, of Leicester, England; sons, Howard (Kristia) Suutala, of Wilton, Calif., Rock (Janice) Suutala, of Neenah, Wis., David Suutala, of Kimball, Wis .; and daughters, Kym (Jerry) Suutala and Karen (Dave) Pertile, both of Ironwood; grandchildren, Carrissa (Corrado) Pannuzzo, of Neenah, Makenzie (Kyrsten) Wilman, of Gilbert, Ariz., Samantha (Michael) Pertile, of Lansing; great-grandchildren Auggie and Leo Pannuzzo.

Also surviving is a sister, Karen (Anders) Tingstad, of Bessemer; nieces Kelly Tingstad, of Portland, Ore., and Anna (Lorne) Lovelace, of Bessemer; and nephew Matt (Melissa) Tingstad, of Wakefield. John was a very loving brother and has always been there for me in the absence of our parents. I will miss him deeply.

John's humor and compassion will sadly be 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 April 25 at Ironwood's Ketola-Burla Funeral Home with interment at Sunset Acres Cemetery in Ironwood Township.