Republic – Ellen H. Aho, age 104, longtime Republic resident entered eternal life on Saturday, September 2, 2017 at the Norlite Nursing Center in Marquette, where she had been a resident for the past several years.

Ellen was born in Humboldt Twp. (Black River Location), MI on March 30, 1913 the daughter of Peter and Hilma (Hietaniemi) Koivukoski. She attended the Humboldt Twp. School #5 on Co. Rd. 478 and was an eighth grade graduate in 1926. On March 4, 1933 she married John Aho of Republic at the Bethany Lutheran Church. Initially, John and Ellen made their home in West Republic with John working mainly in the woods. In 1941 they moved to Butte, MT where John worked as a copper miner at Anaconda's Kelley Mine. They lived in Montana until 1956, except for a two years period spent in Republic at the end of World War II. Their later years were spent living in South Republic in their original home that was moved from West Republic. John passed away on Oct. 18, 1969.

During her years at Norlite, Ellen was a very active person. She kept herself busy by enjoying shopping excursions, going for lunches, and various other activities. She was very fond of knitting and in her spare time made many pairs of warm winter socks which earned the Norlite-given name "Queen of Socks". In her earlier years, Ellen enjoyed the outdoors, particularly fishing and hunting, which she and John pursued with great success in Montana.

Ellen was the fourth of seven children born to Peter and Hilma. Those siblings, all deceased, included: Lydia (Gust) Rost, Lempi Peterson (Isaac) Warlin, John (Wilma Parrie) Koski, Waino (Ann Nausbaum) Koski, Peter (Theresa Ringuette) Koski, and Reino Koski. Her father Peter died at age 33 of tuberculosis in 1921 and a few years later Hilma married Sam Hill and gave birth to Ellen's half-sister Saima (Warner) Johnson who also preceded her in death.

She is survived by many nieces and nephews, younger relatives and friends. Her beautiful smile will be missed by everyone.

Visitation will be from 11:00 am – 12:00 noon on Friday September 8, 2017 at the Bethany Lutheran Church in Republic. Funeral services will follow at 12:00 noon on Friday with the Rev. Kevin Kaiser to officiate. A luncheon will follow the services in the church hall. Interment will take place at the Republic Cemetery.

Ellen greatly appreciated the visits by Pastors Katherine Finigan and Kevin Kaiser over the years, as well as the kind and caring staff members at the Norlite Nursing Center.

Memorials may be directed to the Bethany Lutheran Church, 110 Poplar St., Republic, MI 49879 in Ellen's memory.

Ellen's obituary may also be viewed at bjorkandzhulkie.com where relatives and friends may leave a note of remembrance.

The funeral service recording, when it becomes available, can be found here .