John Wilhelm Niemitalo, Sr.

John Wilhelm Niemi-

talo, Sr. passed away in

Stanley, North Dakota on

June 22, 2019. He was

born on June 26, 1916 to

Charles and Hilja Niemi-

talo in Belden, ND. John

attended country schools

near Belden and a year of

high school in Stanley. He

graduated from the Han-

son Auto Mechanical and

Electrical School in Fargo

in January 1935 after

which he worked for the

Ford Garage in Stanley for

five years.

He moved to Seattle,

WA in 1941 and became a

welder for the US Navy

Shipyard. John and

Mayme Kannianen were

married in Seattle on June

9, 1941. They returned to

North Dakota soon after

their marriage and John

opened the Stanley

Machine Shop which he

owned for five years.

John and Mayme then

moved to the Niemitalo

farm in Belden. John

farmed and established

the Belden Machine Shop

on his farm.

John was a lifelong

member of the Apostolic

Lutheran Church. After he

and Mayme retired in the

1970s, they became

snowbirds and enjoyed

their winters in Arizona.

John took up horseshoes

there and was good at it,

winning numerous tour-

naments and trophies. He

also enjoyed lapidary and

went on rock hunting and

gold panning trips to the

Arizona deserts and

mountains. He made rock

clocks, table tops and pen

sets for gifts.

His summer hobby was

making scale model steam

engines and pumpjacks.

He made all the parts for

his productions.

John was preceded in

death by: his parents;

wife, Mayme and sons,

John Jr., Thomas, and

Vaughn.

He is survived by: his

sons, Wesley (Ann), Doug-

las (Marla), Keith (Pam),

Steven; daughters, Sharon

Lehr (David) and Paula

LaPrise (Kevin); grand-

sons, Dean, Jacob (Jessi-

ca), Kevin (Kerri) and Dan

(Laura); granddaughters,

Ann McDermott (Brian),

Kristen Niemitalo-Woods

(Brady), Megan and Sara

and eight

great-grandchildren.

His funeral service will

be held at the Apostolic

Lutheran Church in Bel-

den, ND at 10:00 am on

Saturday, June 29, 2019.

Pastor Harvey Niska will

be officiating. Burial will

be in Belden Finnish

Cemetery, Belden, ND.

A family service will be

held on Friday, June 28,

2019 at 7:00 pm at

Springan Stevenson Fun-

eral Home, Stanley, North

Dakota. Family and

friends are welcome.

Visitation will be held

Friday, June 28, 2019

from 1:00 pm to 7:00 pm

at Springan Stevenson

Funeral Home.

His arrangements have

been entrusted with

Springan Stevenson Fun-

eral Home of Stanley.

Friends may sign the

on-line register and give

their condolences at

www.springan

stevenson.com.