Joann Marie (Lellelid) Toso, 64, of Saint Paul, Minnesota, died peacefully at home Nov. 5, 2015, surrounded by her family, after suffering from cancer for years.

Joann was born in 1951 in Brooklyn, New York, of missionary parents on their way to Madagascar to serve the Lutheran church. She and her future husband grew up together in Madagascar as “missionary kids.”

She and her husband returned to serve at the Manambaro Lutheran Hospital in southern Madagascar from 1983-1988. They then moved to Austin, Minnesota, where her husband served as a physician. During this time Joann became a leader in Moms in Touch, Intl — a Christian organization of mothers that pray for their children in school. From 2003-2007 she joined her husband, project director for developing the Dodoma Christian Medical Center, Dodoma, Tanzania.

She was preceded in death by her father, Leo Lellelid.

She is survived by her husband, John Toso; her children: Isaac, Michael, and Tiana Toso; her mother, Arlene (Stenberg) Lellelid; her siblings: Steven and Paul Lellelid, Ruth Ann, Suzanne Toso and Annette Simonson.

Joann has bequeathed her body to the University of Minnesota and will be later cremated. A memorial service will be held mid December, details yet to be released. The family wished to thank the Health Partners Hospice team who so expertly and compassionately assisted Joann in her last days (the same team that cared for John’s mother).

Memorials are preferred to Global Health Ministries of Fridley, Minnesota.