Benjamin R. Lahti

LEOMINSTER—Benjamin R. Lahti, 87, of 192 Highland Ave., passed away peacefully on April 20, surrounded by loved ones at Leominster Hospital, following a battle with cancer.

“Benny”, as his friends called him, was born in Leominster on January 30, 1937, to Finnish immigrants Edward Eino Lahti and Tyyne (Halmesmäki) Lahti, and attended Leominster public schools. He was the second of four children; his siblings Edwin, Danny, and Rachel predeceased him.

His lifelong job was at Lahti’s Inc., which was established by his father Eino in 1928 as Lahti’s Fix-It Auto Body. As a teenager he was the “squeak and rattle boy”, searching for the sources of annoying sounds in customer vehicles. He soon specialized in auto body repair, and maintained an interest in precise and artistic body work throughout his life. The shop expanded to become a new car dealership in the 1950s, first as a franchise of Nash Motors and then the American Motors Corporation. In 1961 Eino retired and Ben and his two brothers took over ownership and operation, selling new and used cars and maintaining a local reputation for reliable and caring service. Jeep was added to the franchise in the 1960s, and in a decade became the mainstay of the dealership as it remains to the present day. Ben never officially retired, but over the past few years he gradually gave over the management of Lahti’s to his son-in-law and longtime sales manager Jason Fournier, who continues to run the business today.

Ben was a lifelong Christian. Increasingly over his life he saw his primary role on this earth as a sharer of the good news of Jesus and connecting at a deep faith level with his family, friends, and customers. He was well known for extended chats in the dealership showroom, which might start with conventional small talk but generally came to rest on issues of what Ben called “ultimate importance”, or “spiritual matters”. Ben was a charming conversationalist and charismatic in sharing his opinions on any topic, but when speaking of faith in Christ his message always revealed an underlying sense of urgency. He used to point at the glass doors of the showroom and say that he would much rather a customer leave thinking about the gospel than having bought a car. Perhaps his most frequently quoted Bible verse was Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you”, meaning that all the other cares of life will fall into their proper places. For much of his life Ben was a member of Messiah Lutheran Church in Fitchburg; in his later years he frequented Grace Baptist in Lexington and First Baptist Church of Leominster.

On April 20, 1968, Ben married the love of his life, Jean (Ingerson) Lahti, not too long after being introduced to each other at the dealership by a friend. They raised their family over four decades in the same house on Highland Avenue. Jean passed away in 2015. Ben died on their 56th wedding anniversary. Both Jean and Ben were lovingly cared for in their later years by Victoria Muwanguzi and her daughter Sheila Mulungi, whose faith and friendship were deeply meaningful to Ben especially after Jean’s passing.

Ben and Jean are survived by three children and eight grandchildren: David, who married April (Niehaus) and had two children (Eva and Elias); Adam, who married Ruth (Hariu) and had three children (Micah, Caleb, and Silas); and Sarah, who married Jason Fournier and had three children (Noah, Jonah, and Briella). Ben was loving and close to his family, treated his kids-in-law as his own children, and cherished his favorite family traditions such as vacation trips to warmer places, seeing the lilacs at the Arnold Arboretum, relaxing on the back patio, and Sunday dinners out after church. All the grandchildren call him Isä, which is Finnish for father or Dad. His repeated wish was that at least one of his kids would live near to him, even on his property. This came true when Sarah and Jay built their house in his backyard, which was a great comfort to Ben.

Calling hours will be held from 4-6 p.m. on Sunday April 28 at Richardson Funeral Home, 106 West St., Leominster. The funeral will be at Messiah Lutheran Church, 750 Rindge Rd. in Fitchburg at 11 a.m. on Monday April 29, followed by burial at Evergreen Cemetery in Leominster.

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