ASHTABULA — Stella E. Toikkanen, expired at the age of 97, on Thursday, June 25, 2009.
The daughter of Elwood Welser and Emma (Bergman) Welser, Stella was born in Dorset, Ohio, on March 8, 1912.
A graduate of Kent State University, she became a teacher, beginning her career in a one-room school in Cherry Valley, Ohio. Thereafter, she taught elementary school for twenty-seven years at McKenzie/Bunker Hill School in Ashtabula. She dearly loved her profession and many of her former students remember her fondly.
In 1937, Stella married Jack N. Toikkanen who managed the Carlisle Allen Men’s Department for many years. They were a handsome couple and were very much admired throughout their married lives. They began their married life on Chestnut Street and then moved to a house they had built on Norman Avenue in the Harbor.
Stella was a dedicated gardener and their flower gardens were an immense source of pride and many awards. She was a dedicated member of the First United Methodist Church for more than fifty years and an avid Circle member in earlier years.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Jack; her brother, Paul; her cousin, Marthella (Spinneweber) Lehtinen; her cousin, Bernice (King) Johnson; and brother-in-law William Toikkanen.
Stella is survived by her sister, Marion (Ralph) Jordan; her daughter, Jacqueline (Peter) Dodge; her grandchildren, Kami Kovacs, Jill (Larry) Kovacs-Siegelman, Josh (Dawn) Peters, Julie (Jerry) Hanley, Shawn Peters and Jeremy Dodge; her great-grandchildren, Jacob Siegelman, Jack and Sydney Peters; her beloved cousin, Mary Jo (Lyon) Jaskela; cousins, Colleen (Sidley) Barrett and Pat (Sidley) Carey, cousin, Herbert (Delores) King, cousin, Carole Johnson and cousin, David (Liz) Lyon; nieces, Marilyn Welser Hizebicks and Janice Welser Bienko; nephew, Paul H. (Maria) Welser; and loyal friends, Gerri Dailey and Leah Meade.
At the decedent’s request, a Graveside Service will be held for family members at a later date.
Contributions may be made to the First United Methodist Church, Elm Ave., Ashtabula, Ohio, or Hospice of the
Western Reserve.
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Stella E. Toikkanen
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Stella E. Toikkanen
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
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