Obituary of Margaret Ohman Huhtala

Margaret Ohman Huhtala died after a long illness on September 22, 2017

at the home of her son, David, daughter-in-law, Kim, and granddaughter,

Candice, in Glenville, New York. She was 92 years old.

Margaret Huhtala was born on October 2, 1924 in Boston, Massachusetts, to

Swedish immigrants. Her parents, Nils and Hilda Carlson Ohman, had

immigrated to the United States in 1920 to create a better life for their family.

Near the end of World War II she met her beau and life partner, Olavi Huhtala,

the son of Finnish immigrants, August and Jennie Aaltonen Huhtala. Margaret

and Olavi met at a dance given by the American Scandinavian Club; from the

beginning they were linked by their shared heritage as children of immigrants

from Nordic countries, as well as their shared love of singing and dancing. They

married on July 8, 1945. Olavi’s occupation as an engineer took them and their

three children from Washington, D.C. to Boston, to Waterbury and then

Newtown, Connecticut, Mentor, Ohio, and finally Scotia, New York.

Over the course of her long life Margaret tried out a variety of roles and activities.

At various times she was involved with Planned Parenthood, the League of

Women Voters, church organizations, and church and community choirs. For a

brief time, she trained and worked as a Licensed Practical Nurse. Always

exploring new opportunities for artistic expression, she took classes in flower

arranging, ceramics, pottery and cake decorating. Although she took tennis and

skiing lessons, she also enjoyed square dancing, folk dancing, entertaining,

decorating, singing and going on cruises. Above all, throughout her life she was

was an avid and talented seamstress. She collected Swedish wooden horses,

crystal vases, and gemstone jewelry. One of her many favorite songs from the

1940s and 1950s was “I’m always chasing rainbows.”

She is survived by her children: Carolyn Huhtala (Jason) Carey; Susan Huhtala

(Doug) Harvey; David (Kim) Huhtala; her 6 grandchildren: Peter (Lisa) Carey;

Paul (Tina) Carey; Bo (Melanie) Harvey; Austin (KJ) Harvey, Kristen Harvey;

Candice Huhtala; and 7 great-grandchildren: Zachary, Sam and Lily Carey;

Micah and Annaliese Harvey; Jonah and Lucy Harvey. She was predeceased by

her husband, Olavi Huhtala, on March 12, 2016.

The funeral will be held at 10:00 am on Friday, October 20 at the Scotia United

Methodist Church, 201 Ten Broeck Street, Scotia, New York.

The rest of the family would like to thank Margaret’s granddaughter Candice for

sacrifices made in her loving role as Margaret’s primary caregiver during her last

years.

The family also wishes to thank the staff of the Community Hospice of

Schenectady for their compassion and care given to Margaret and the family.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Margaret's memory to the

Community Hospice, 310 S. Manning Boulevard, Albany NY 12208.