Leo W Haapasaari's Obituary
Leo Haapasaari Obituary
Leo W. Haapasaari was born September 14, 1931, in the upper peninsula of Michigan, to Jacob and Liisa Haapasaari (spelling per 1940 U.S. census records). He died Thanksgiving morning, November 23, 2023, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at age 92. Leo's numerous siblings, including brothers Onnie, George, Urho, and Frank, and sisters Margaret Niemi and Ellen Moldowan, all preceded him in death.
Leo married Beatrice Saelens on September 9, 1958; sadly, their time together was cut short when Beatrice died in December 1973. Later Leo met the second love of his life, Jo Ann, and they married April 5, 1985, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with Jo Ann's son Scott and his wife Beth standing up for them. Leo and Jo Ann lived in Prospect Heights, Illinois, until 2005, when they moved (along with Jo Ann's mother Viola and aunt Irene) to Tulsa, Oklahoma to be near Scott and his family. After 27 years of marriage, Jo Ann preceded Leo in death on June 30, 2012, and while Leo had no biological children of his own, Leo's step-family continued to embrace and care for him in Tulsa, Oklahoma through his passing Thanksgiving morning, November 23, 2023.
Leo loved his job of more than 40 years at the Zenith (later LG) factory in Chicago, rising early every morning to leave for work while it was still dark; his personal effects include numerous Zenith service recognition certificates. He also loved working outdoors, mowing the grass with his Toro riding mower, gathering leaves with his Toro leaf vac/blower, and cleaning the gutters. He lit up for all things John Deere and to the very end, had a John Deere tractor clock which, during daylight hours, made the sounds of a different historical tractor every hour on the hour. He and Jo Ann thoroughly enjoyed their his-and-hers Lincoln Town Cars (one sepia brown and the other gunmetal gray). They also loved saving old bread and feeding the squirrels outside their patio door of their Prospect Heights home. Best of all, they could frequently be heard cooing "I love you darling" to each other, in the full hearing of those around them.
His wife Jo Ann was very outgoing, and she fully included Leo, who was always all-in for the ride. He loved being with any of his family, including his brother Frank and Frank's wife Sadie, his sister Margaret and her husband George (or later, her good friend Eugene), or his stepsons Doug and/or Scott along with Scott's wife Beth and their children Eric, Kristin, Katie, and Jonathan. Summer, Thanksgiving, and/or Christmas visits in Prospect Heights, Tulsa (Scott's home), and Florida (Doug's home), were annual (or more often) events, and Leo loved being one of the family with everyone. Scott & Beth's kids (Leo's grandkids) especially loved hearing him retort, "Set it and forget it!", "Have you ever had a glass of water [dumped] on your head?", and especially the kids' favorite, the near-scandalous "Art, fart, blew his pants apart" (usually prompted by someone's effort to squeeze the last bit of ketchup out of a plastic bottle) - all uttered with a giant smile on his face.
Leo is survived by the aforementioned family members Doug Johnson and Scott Johnson along with Scott's wife Beth, their grown children (Leo's grandchildren) Eric, Kristin, Katie, and Jonathan, five great-grandchildren, and Haapasaari nieces and nephews including Elaine Haines, Bob Haapasaari, Joan Nunamaker, Sandra Quinn, Patty Elstner, and Susan Gruska. His remains will be interred with Jo Ann's, in her family's plot at Memorial Park Cemetery in Skokie, Illinois.
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