DR. Harold J. LEHMUS

LEHMUS, DR. Harold J. Harold J. Lehmus MD, 91, of Coventry, loving husband of Olive I. (James) Lehmus, and the late Siiri R. (Ojala) Lehmus, died Thursday, (February 17, 2011) at Windham Community Hospital in Willimantic with his wife at his side. He was born in New York, NY on May 10, 1919, son of John and Sarah (Holappa) Lehmus, Estonian and Finnish naturalized citizens of the United States. Dr. Lehmus received a B.A. Degree from Columbia University and graduated with honors from the New York School of Medicine as a Doctor of Medicine in 1943 and interned on the medical service at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. He then entered the Army Medical Corps as a battalion surgeon in 1944 and served in the Southwest Pacific as a captain with a medical replacement depot until 1946. He then completed his medical residency at Newington Veterans Hospital on the Yale Medical Service in 1949. The following year he served in charge of the Rheumatic Fever Cardiac Unit in North Reading, MA and the House of the Good Samaritan associated with the Peter Brent Brigham and Childrens Hospital in Boston, MA. In 1950 he opened a private practice in internal medicine in Manchester and served on the medical staff of Manchester Memorial Hospital and as a clinical assistant at the UConn Health Center. He retired from his practice in 1986 and he and Olive enjoyed many years of international traveling, visiting art museums, and attending medical meetings and classes in the arts. Dr. Lehmus had memberships in the American Medical Assoc., the Connecticut Medical Assoc., and the Hartford County Medical Assoc. in addition he belonged to the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American College of Physicians along with his appointment to Alpha Omega Alpha Honorary medical Society. Along with his wife, he is survived by three children and their spouses, Roberta and Wallace Irish of Manchester, John and Susan Lehmus of Portland, ME, and Walter and Kathy Lehmus of Manchester; four step-children and three spouses, Deborah King of Dover, NH, Douglas and Deborah Wilk of Bennington, NH, Dana and Narai Wilk of Morro Bay, CA, and Dorrie and Carl Natsaka of Colorado Springs, CO; a special family member, Robert Percy; ten grandchildren, seven step-grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be held Saturday, February 19, at 1 p.m. at the Holmes Funeral Home, 400 Main Street, Manchester. Burial will be private in the East Cemetery in Manchester. A visiting hour will be held Saturday from 12 p.m. until the time of the service. Memorial contributions may be made to the Manchester Memorial Hospital Development Fund, 71 Haynes Street, Manchester, CT 06040. To sign the online guest book please visit www.holmes-watkinsfuneralhomes.com.