Stories/ Photos /Obituaries/ Memorials
Josephine (Susag) Lehman
April 4, 1899 - February 12, 1995
95 years, 10 months, 8 days
Marriage: Samuel Francis Lehman - married February 10, 1921
from "Double Cousins" by Ralph Hammersborg, A Norwegian Family Chronicle, produced in 1996
Ralph Hammersborg had asked his Mother’s cousins to write about their lives. The cousin's stories are taken from "Double Cousins by Ralph Hammersborg, A Norwegian Family Chronicle, produced in 1996.” Birth dates of living relatives have been removed from the original text.
1899 - Josephine (Susag) Lehman
born April 4, 1899, died at age 95 on February 12, 1995.
Submitted by Ray Susag (June, 1995)
Josephine was born April 4, 1899 at Lake Franklin, Minnesota. She attended school to about age 16 and then went to work doing housework in North Dakota and Minnesota for farm families. In this way she met Sam Lehman who was doing harvesting work. In 1921 she married Sam and went to live at Hubbard, Iowa where Sam was brought up and where several of his brothers lived.
They were married for only five and a half years when Sam was killed in a farming accident. They had no family.
After spending a short time back in Minnesota, Josephine went to California and worked for several people managing their kitchens and households. Among them was a member of the Hearst Family. From there she went to Colorado and did the same type of work for a mine manager.
Toward the end of World War II, she moved to Seattle where she lived with Marian (her niece) and Victor Sundholm while she worked for Boeing until the end of the war. After the war she worked for the cafeteria at the University of Washington. After seeing the need for lodging at the University, she bought a house and provided room and board for about a half-dozen students, some of whom kept in touch with her for the rest of her life. Josephine was an excellent cook and had no problem keeping busy.
Josephine had no family of her own and her home was her baby and she cared for it and maintained it with all the ability she had. She kept it in top condition to the end. She was fiercely independent and extremely sensitive (a Susag trait). This led to difficulty for friends or family to be of assistance to her. She maintained a sharp mind and sharp tongue up until her death, February 12, 1995 after having lived on her own for almost seventy years.
December 17, 1991
Dear Walt & Vi
I owe Walt a great deal for doing the kitchen plumbing. Must correct your idea that I had a flu bug. If that had been all that was wrong with me it wouldn't have been so bad. I spent Thanksgiving week in the hospital. I kept getting weaker. After they got me in a bed a group of drs. & nurses gathered (I think they thought out of my hearing). Then one of the older nurses asked me who they should notify. I gave them Ragna's and Ray's name. They wanted Ragna's phone no. & I said I thought the only way they could find Ray would be to put the police on his trail because he was wandering down south somewhere. After a week of chewing pills and four units of blood and more food than I could eat I began to mend. I'm glad you are getting use of the punch bowl. I came home to a leaking toilet which leaked thru the floor & into the furniture and rugs. There's no end to surprises here. Peace on Earth & good will to all. A very merry Christmas to you & your family. Aunt Jo
CHARTS
Josephine's Parents
Josephine's Grandparents