A sad farewell to civic leader and friend

Longtime Calumet Twp. supervisor left a legacy

One of the first rules of journalism is never to become personally involved with the people you write articles about.

Fortunately, I broke that rule when I met Paul Lehto who, at the time, was a supervisor for Calumet Township. Paul had a passion for mining history that was equal to my own; the difference between Paul and I, however, was that he was born at a time when the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company was still operating. Throughout the first three decades of his life, Paul was surrounded by active companies.

Paul was born in Wolverine Location, near the old Wolverine Mine, on November 28, 1938. His father, Arthur, was a farmer. Although that mine had ended operations in 1922, Paul remembered much of the surface plant still standing. Paul was born in the house he lived in all his life, 34 Fourth Street, in Wolverine Location, which is now 27405 Wolverine St. in Kearsarge. He attended kindergarten at the Wolverine School, then transferred to the Centennial School, until the end of eighth grade, before attending Calumet High School.

Wolverine Location eventually became an extension of Kearsarge, the mine of that name operated on either side of the Wolverine Mine, comprising North Kearsarge and South Kearsarge. The South Kearsarge permanently closed, a year into the Great Depression, eight years before Paul was born. The North Kearsarge closed a year later. Paul remembered when that mine reopened in 1942; he was a junior in high school when it closed in 1956.

The Centennial Mine, near the location Paul attended elementary school, had also closed in 1931, another victim of the Depression. But he also remembered when that mine reopened in 1942, again to contribute copper to the war effort. The Centennial operated for the next two decades, closing permanently in 1966. By then, Paul was working for C&H.

In 1959, two years after he graduated, Paul went to work there, where he remained until the company closed in 1968. While there he worked in the foundry, the Lake Linden Leaching Plant, the railroad repair shop, as a welder at the roundhouse. In the last year the company operated, he drove a supply truck, until the workers went on strike in the fall of 1968.

Paul graduated from Calumet High School in 1957, but even before that, he felt an obligation to service. He enrolled in the Calumet High School JROTC Program, rising to the rank of Cadet Lieutenant Colonel. He marched, with his JROTC Battalion, in President Dwight D. Eisenhower's inaugural parade on Jan. 20, 1957.

During his junior year, Paul enlisted in the Army Reserves, leaving for basic training less than a month after graduating. He trained with the 107th combat engineers at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, from June through September, 1957. During the summer of 1956, he attended Reserve Summer Camp at Camp Custer, Michigan. He graduated from Camp McCoy, Wisconsin with honors. He was honorably discharged in April 1964.

After graduating from high school, Paul worked various jobs, including employment as a carpenter in Rishers, Indiana, in the summer of 1959. He worked at Patrick Saw Mill in Mohawk, Rowe Moving, in Calumet, and Neph Window Company, also in Calumet.

Paul told me on several occasions that he frequently visited with the township supervisor, asking him, "Why don't you do this?" or "Why don't you do that?" The supervisor finally said, "If you have all the answers, why don't you run for the supervisor position?"

With a chuckle, Paul told me, "So, I did."

In 1972, Paul ran for the position of Calumet Township supervisor, was elected and began on Nov. 20, 1972. He would hold the position for the next 50 years. He and the trustees of the township board became responsible for the transition of a large, corporate-owned conglomeration of mining communities into a sustainable and progressive, forward-thinking township.

Over the next 50 years, Paul oversaw more than 50 major township projects. These included platting 1,700 residential lots owned by C&H and subsequently by Universal Oil Products, which purchased C&H's holdings. While the lots were owned by UOP, residents owned the houses on the leased property, and the lots were platted to enable the lease holders to purchase the lots from UOP.

Another significant project was upgrading the Calumet and Laurium sewer systems, with was a $17 million project. Several major township water projects included new wells and storage tanks, and combining the potable and fire water systems in 1987. The following year, the township extended water service to Phillipsville.

Paul and the Township Board secured a grant to build the Sixth Street Extension.

After co-organizing the North Houghton County Water and Sewage Authority, Paul was its supervisor for 25 years.

In 1972, Paul oversaw the acquisition of the former Hecla fire station, which became the Township Fire Hall. New equipment was purchased, including a new pumper truck in 1975, but infrastructure was not the only concern for Paul and the Township Board. They understood from the beginning that in order for a township to attract and retain people, it needed a wide variety of recreational properties. Over the next 50 years, recreation projects would include the Wolverine ball field, the Legion Field, the Bicentennial Arena, the Swedetown Ponds, the Swedetown sledding hill, the cross-country ski trails, the Calumet Dam, and the acquisition of the old C&H drill shop, which now houses the Curling Club.

This also includes the Calumet Colosseum. That has included rebuilding the ice plant, artificial ice, basement locker rooms, three Zambonis, a new roof, new sheeting, new lighting -- the list goes on.

He was the right man for the job. For 70 years, Paul devoted his life to coaching, managing and promoting athletics. Paul was only 14 years old when he was elected president of the Wolverine Athletic Club. At 16, he was playing and coaching in the Calumet Hockey Association. He coached CLK high school hockey for 18 years. Paul was inducted into the Calumet High School Athletic Hall of Fame on Sept. 6, 2014.

Paul's accomplishments, associations, his community commitments, are too numerous to mention in this limited space. I did not have the space to mention the more than 20 boards he sat on.

Paul had shared many of the stories of his life with me over the past nine years we had known each other. But there was always more. When he finished a story, he would say, "Now, I'll tell you the story behind the story."

In September 2019, Paul called me to tell me that after 47 years, he was stepping down as township supervisor. In November 2023, Paul called me again, this time to tell me that he was stepping down from his positions on those boards he had retained. At 84, Paul was tired. Though he didn't make it public, he wasn't feeling well. I visited with him several times over the next two months, until, on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, at 1 a.m., my friend, Paul Lehto, died at the Omega House in Houghton. I will miss him dearly, as will Calumet Township, those who knew him, those who loved him, and those who were privileged to be his friend.