Leland Keith Carlson

Leland "Lee" Keith Carlson age 83 of Plymouth passed away on Saturday, May 3, 2025. Lee was born to Carl J. and Helvie Cecilia (Johnson) Carlson on May 13, 1941 in Hallock, MN. He was preceded in death by his wife, Joanne; his parents, siblings, Audella, Virginia, Sheldon, Bill, Doreen, Duane, and Jerry. Lee is survived by his children, Paul (Lisa) of South Jordan, UT, Michelle (Mike) Liebl of Prior Lake, MN, and Todd (Holley) of Port Townsend, WA; grandchildren, Annika, Gretchen, Sam, Maki, and William; and many nieces, nephews and other family members.

Lee grew up in Lancaster, MN, where he attended the Lancaster School, and went on to study business, graduating from St. Cloud State with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. His nickname was “Keeter” while in school. He was very involved in sports at school, and he especially loved playing basketball. He also played the trumpet and was in a couple of plays. He enjoyed growing up on the farm with all its adventures. He had stories about the animals, his pet pig, the beavers in the river, and his many dogs.

Dad met his one and only wife – our mom – Joanne Zimmer on October 24, 1964 at Schlief’s Little City, “The Northwest’s Finest Ballroom”, in Inver Grove Heights while they were both on a date with someone else! It must have been the intoxicating atmosphere of the venue and the world famous Deutschmeisters performing their hit single “Hu-La-La-Polka” that set the perfect mood for new love. At a party the next time they met, Dad looked at Mom and said "I think I know your birthday!" He guessed it correctly, and they were married 10 months later, on September 4th, 1965.

They initially lived and started their family in Bloomington, MN, subsequently moving to Plymouth, MN in 1973, where they would raise their three children and live for the rest of their lives. They were married for 59 years! Lee and Joanne’s first child, Paul, was born in August 1966, followed by Michelle in September 1968, and Todd in June 1970.

Lee worked in construction during his college years, and then got his job at Honeywell, where he would work for the next 28 years. Despite his education in marketing, he never worked in his field of study. Instead, he worked in configuration management where his favorite project was being part of the team responsible for the lunar lander’s control joystick used on the Apollo 17 mission to the moon. He continued at Alliant Techsystems after it was spun off from Honeywell, but eventually was laid off in his fifties. He was lucky enough to really love his last job at Tennant Company.

Dad enjoyed assistant coaching our summer sports teams, baseball and soccer for Paul, softball for Michelle, and soccer for Todd. Both Mom and Dad supported us kids in our music and sporting events, which made it all the more fun. Music was always an important part of Lee’s life, through many years singing with Joanne in the church choir at St. Mary of the Lake and the Plymouth Rockers. Mom and Dad passed on this love of music to all of their children, who have continued to be active in music in adulthood.

Lee and Joanne spent countless hours with their core group of friends Mike & Linda Kranz, Steve & Mary Hearne, Jim and Elise Harasyn, Tom and Pat Petersen, and Bruce and Jan Hedenland, playing bridge, and cross-country skiing and hiking up North. Dad loved reading non-fiction, especially magazines like National Geographic and Discover.

Dad’s cancer journey started 20 years ago, so we are all grateful he had these 20 years with us. When he received the stage 4 diagnosis in 2022, he remained positive, had the very best attitude and took on this illness with such dignity and grace. We will carry that with us always and can only hope someday to face illness and death as he did.

Lee passed on May 3rd, 2025. Michelle and Todd were with him. Paul wasn’t able to return, but he had spent a lot of quality time with dad while he was still doing well. Dad shared so many stories and memories these last couple of years, even up to the end. He was unresponsive the last 4-5 days, but they say that hearing is the last sense to go, so we hope he heard us and knew that we were there with him.

We are so thankful for all the staff at Summerwood of Plymouth, and are especially thankful for his Park Nicollet Hospice team, for taking such good care of dad. Thank you to Melissa, Peter, Rose, Terry, Alice, and Zack! All of his caregivers were so kind and caring, and we will be forever grateful.

Mass of Christian burial will be Thursday. August 28, 2025 at 11am with a visitation an hour prior at The Church of St. Mary of the Lake, 105 Forestview Ln N, Plymouth, MN 55441.