Lucy Margaret (Watson) Suronen, 64, died on Jan. 2, 2021. She was born June 23, 1956 in St. Paul, MN to John and Mary (Todd) Watson, Lucy was the sixth of 10 children.

Lucy could snap her fingers like a starting gun; it didn't matter if she was snapping along to the beat of a song on the radio, or catching the attention of her children, the sound was equally deafening. Lucy was the hardest working mother, who could have been an advertisement for bootstraps-work ethic, but one who championed the poor and hard-working through her politics and pride in herself, and in how she raised her family.

Despite waitressing several jobs concurrently while raising her children, Lucy also put herself through trade school, earning an Associate's Degree in Natural Gas Utilization and Distribution. She labored for years in the City of Duluth Water and Gas department, retiring in 2010.

As the door to her work in the customer service industry closed, a door to a new life was opened when she reconnected with the man who would become the love of her life and on March 31, 1994 Lucy married Mike Suronen.

Lucy and her children moved from West St. Paul to Barnum where she made her home until her final year at Villa Vista nursing facility in Cromwell, MN.

For nearly 27 years, Lucy and Mike survived hardships and knew true love. They complemented each other, and each made the other stronger over the decades. Their romance was the kind that made their then-teenagers roll their eyes – which is to say the best kind of romance. It was the love that showed the best part of the day being the few hours between when work ended, and before supper was served, where they could talk about their day.

Lucy lived her Catholic faith, and was an active member of Holy Angels Catholic Church in Moose Lake, MN.

Lucy had many creative pursuits in her life, including cooking, scrapbooking and making personalized cards for every occasion. Other hobbies include reading, traveling and gardening for food and flowers, and canning pickles, and those experiences will live on whenever her son or daughter or husband smells a spice rack; hears particular songs, or sees lilacs blooming in the spring.

Lucy traveled extensively across America and the world. She loved exploring the ruins and beaches of Mexico with her husband. Proud of her Irish heritage, Lucy very much wanted to take a trip to Ireland, which never came to fruition.

When her children, Laura (Peterson) Selden, U.S. Army and Nolan Peterson, U. S. Marine Corps, were both deployed to Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004-05, Lucy became actively involved in the Blue and Goldstar Mothers, sending care packages to troops deployed overseas.

As she embraced the slower pace of retirement, Lucy and Mike enjoyed playing Bingo and watching cooking shows, bowling and spending time with her grandchildren.

Lucy was preceded in death by sisters, Mary, Theresa, and Judy; and brother, Thomas.

She is survived by her husband, Mike; sisters Bernadette, Rita, Josephine (Tom); brothers, John (Jeanne) and Bob; daughter, Laura (Brent) Selden; son, Nolan (Gwen) Peterson; stepdaughters, Tina (Matt) Koecher and Angie Suronen; and her grandchildren, Maverick, Gracelyn, Beckett, Jack, George,  Lucas, Delaney, Madison, Ari, Austin, Michael, Gunner, Jaleigh and Gabriella.

Private Family Services will be held at a later date. Arrangements by Hamlin – Hansen – Kosloski Funeral Home.