Viola Mehlhop

Viola I. Mehlhop, age 97, previously of Ortonville, MN, passed away on September 29, 2022, of natural causes at Treasure Care Assisted Living in Tamarac, FL.

A funeral service will be held on Sunday, November 6, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. at First English Lutheran Church in Ortonville. Visitation will take place one hour prior to the service. Pastor Denise Fossen will officiate, and inurnment will take place at Mound Cemetery. The service will be livestreamed and recorded and viewable below this obituary.

Viola Mehlhop was born the daughter of Peter and Nellie (Grimm) Vollmer on September 12, 1925, in Glencoe, MN.  On April 12, 1947, Viola was united in marriage with Hillard W. “Lefty” Mehlhop at St. Paul’s Evangelical Reformed Church, Hamburg, MN.  The couple resided in Hillsview, Hosmer, and Britton, SD, before settling in Ortonville, MN, in 1976.  Viola, after being preceded in death by her husband in November of 2012, moved to Florida near her son, Randy, in 2014 where she resided independently until 2019.  Viola resided at Treasure Care Assisted Living of Tamarac, FL, prior to her passing.

Viola worked as a teacher, lab technician, and finally as a hospital insurance clerk until her retirement.  Vi enjoyed sewing, quilting and all stitchery, painting, gardening, volunteering at First English Lutheran Church, and visiting with friends and family.  She and Lefty enjoyed a long, loving retirement filled with travel, card games with friends, tending to their meticulous flowerbeds, and feeding the wild birds.  Vi was a veracious reader in her retirement and loved her community library.  The lasting friendships they nurtured over the years from the various communities in which they resided were treasured until the end.

Viola is survived by daughter, Sue Foster of Rochester, MN; son, Randy Mehlhop of Wilton Manors, FL; and grandson, Colin Foster of Jacksonville, FL.

Viola was preceded in death by her husband of 65 years, HW “Lefty” Mehlhop and was the last surviving of seven siblings.

Special thanks to Treasure Care and Vitas Hospice staff for the loving care received. The family suggests donations to VITAS Community Connection Hospice of Broward County or the Alzheimer’s Association.

Blessed be her memory.