Joann Marie Toso, 64, of Lauderdale, died Nov. 5, having suffered from cancer for years. She died peacefully at home surrounded by her family.
She was preceded in death by her father, Leo Lellelid.
She is survived by her husband, John Toso; children, Isaac, Michael and Tiana; mother, Arlene (Stenberg) Lellelid; siblings, Steven and Paul Lellelid, Ruth Ann, Suzanne Toso and Annette Simonson.
Joann was born in 1951 in Brooklyn, N.Y., of missionary parents on their way to Madagascar to serve the Lutheran church. She and her future husband grew up together in Madagascar as “missionary kids.”
She and John returned to serve at the Manambaro Lutheran Hospital in southern Madagascar from 1983 to 1988. They then moved to Austin, Minn., where her husband served as a physician. During this time Joann became a leader in Moms in Touch, International, a Christian organization of mothers who pray for their children in school. From 2003 to 2007, she joined her husband, who served as project director for developing the Dodoma Christian Medical Center, Dodoma, Tanzania. Joann has bequeathed her body to the University of Minnesota and will later be cremated.
The family thanks the Health Partners Hospice team who so expertly and compassionately assisted Joann in her last days. Memorials are preferred to Global Health Ministries of Fridley, Minn.
A memorial service was held at Roseville Lutheran Church Dec. 12.