HOUGHTON - JoAnn L. Lipe, 58, a resident of the Houghton Canal, passed away Saturday morning, June 6, 2009, at Marquette General Hospital following a short illness.

She was born on Dec. 16, 1950, in Hancock, a daughter of the late Wilbert and Edna (Garnell) Lampinen. She was raised in the Houghton Canal area, attended the Redridge School and was a graduate of Houghton High School with the Class of 1969. She then attended Michigan Tech for two years.

JoAnn was united in marriage to Roger Ek on Nov. 27, 1971, and the couple resided in Vancouver, Wash. until permanently moving to the Copper Country in 1982. He preceded her in death on May 6, 1997. On Dec. 18, 2004, she was united in marriage to Patrick Lipe.

Most recently, Mr. and Mrs. Lipe owned and operated the Water Lily in Houghton until their retirement in 2007.

Mrs. Lipe was a member of the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church of Hancock. She enjoyed spending time with her husband, children, grandchildren and friends.

Preceding her in death were her first husband, Roger; parents; mother-in-law, Helen Ek; two sisters, Sandra Armstrong, Amy Bourland; and her sister-in-law, Karen Lampinen.

Surviving are her husband, Patrick Lipe of the Houghton Canal; father-in-law, Leonard Ek of Battle Ground, Wash.; children, Pamela (Michael) Lowney of South Range, Keith Ek of Hancock, Joni (Justin) Ruonavaara of Houghton Canal, Dale Ek of Houghton Canal, Christina (Christopher) Hatman of Houghton Canal, Paul (Jennell) Ek of Houghton Canal, Tricia (Michael) Tommaro of Atlantic Mine, Marla (Brian) Oja of Hancock; 22 grandchildren; step-children, Randy (Beth) Lipe of Vancouver, Wash., Michael (Janel) Lipe of Vancouver, Wash., Wendi (Rick) Stromer of Farmington, Minn., Diana (AJ) Korpela of Rosemount, Minn., Kimberly (Jon) Martinen of Rosemount, Minn., LouAnn (Wayne) Smith of Hayti, S.D., Charlyn (Paul) Tapani of Battle Ground, Wash., Tammi (Martin) Ek of Brush Prairie, Wash., Patsy (Jeff) Kangas of Hayti, S.D., Scott Lipe of Minneapolis, Minn., Jon (Christa) Lipe of Battle Ground, Wash.; 60 step-grandchildren; 12 step-great-grandchildren; brothers and sisters, David Lampinen of Portland, Ore., Tony (Marsha) Lampinen of Houghton, Gale (Rick) Beers of Rochester, N.Y., Kim (Sharon) Lampinen of Liminga, Anne (Dan) Coponen of Obenhoff; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Funeral services for JoAnn will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, June 11, 2009, at the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church in Hancock with Ronald Jouppe to officiate. Burial will be in the Oskar Cemetery.

Friends may call on Thursday, June 11, 2009, from 11 a.m. until time of services at the church.

To view JoAnn's obituary or to send condolences to the family, please visit memorialchapel.net.

The Memorial Chapel Funeral Home in Hancock is assisting the family with the arrangements.