Lucille T. Scotti

She was born December 6, 1937, in Brooklyn, New York, a daughter of Lester and Grace (Trezza) Scotti. Her family moved to Detroit when she was a child and she was raised there, although she attributed her seafood cooking skills to the time her family spent in the predominantly Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn. Later, she and her father enjoyed exploring Detroit in its heyday, listening to live music in the parks, going to Belle Isle for the botanical conservatory and picnics, and appreciating the architecture and amenities of a beautiful city. Her mother taught her to make ravioli as part of a seemingly effortless production of elaborate Sunday dinners, sparking in Lucille an appreciation of quality food and drink.

On her own, Lucille would spend countless hours at a library with grand architecture, and once challenged herself to read an entire shelf of books in a summer. She won the bet, of course; although she said she always regretted spending the time on a shelf of Fairy Tales and Folklore, wishing she had read a shelf of biographies instead. She graduated from Detroit’s St. Anthony High School in 1955. In high school she was involved in the photography club, school newsletter, and theater. She was fond of telling the story of her lead role in Kiss Me Kate, where she declined to fake the final kiss to the male lead, and much to the chagrin of the religious faculty, she kissed him soundly in their final performance.

After high school she attended Madonna University and Wayne State University, graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and going on to earn a Master’s degree from Wayne State University in Occupational and Environmental Health. Her collaborative research results while in college and in her subsequent career at Parke, Davis & Company were published in the American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal, The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, and the Journal of Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry.

She moved to the Upper Peninsula with her husband in 1967, pursuing a shared dream of homesteading in a more natural world. After their purchase of an old farmstead in Chocolay Township, Lucille perfected her skills making elegant and functional clothing, complicated draperies for the house, and even an entire kitchen table from scratch. She also had an extensive vegetable garden and excelled at canning and the craft of root-cellaring. They produced maple syrup commercially and both loved the science and art of crafting perfect syrup for sale at local groceries. After they separated, Lucille revived writing and research skills from her earlier career and joined the Upper Peninsula Association of Rural Health Services, then moved to the Marquette County Landfill as their first Recycling Coordinator. While in that position she developed the county program for the collection and management of household hazardous waste. She is remembered as literally having written the book on Household Hazardous Waste in Marquette County, and many of her documents are said to still be in use today. She eventually left the county and moved to Lansing to serve as a recycling and household hazardous waste expert for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, retiring in 2002.

Retirement allowed her to return to the home she had built in Chocolay Township after her divorce, with its custom layout and details crafted to her exact specifications. Far from slowing down, retirement was an opportunity for her to resume gardening and explore new passions, such as growing shiitake mushrooms on oak logs harvested from her land. She is remembered as being tremendously self-sufficient, preferring to research, disassemble, and repair anything that dared malfunction in her house. Active with such groups as the Northern Center for Lifelong Learning and the Ishpeming Rock & Mineral Club, she was always embracing something new. One of the achievements that brought her great satisfaction was becoming a ham radio operator in her 70s. Although she had no background in amateur radio or electronics, her interest in emergency communications, public service and ârag chewingã (her words!) led her to intensively study on her own to pass a series of two operator license examinations in 2011, just a month apart. She was very proud of her licensing accomplishments, home and mobile antenna and radio systems, and activities with the Hiawatha Amateur Radio Association of Marquette County.

Those who knew her in the radio world say she took the spirit of ham radio to heart and was ready to provide community communications and support local civil emergency responders in the event of natural or man-made civil emergency. Radio friend John Forslin said: “Most recently, her radio skills and confidence in the craft were on display nationally as she convened a radio net with participants from all over the country. She was universally appreciated by her fellows in this role for good reason. She was able to carry on conversation with everyone she met on the radio, and she was great at making everyone feel welcome. The radio community misses her voice, her skills and her demeanor.”

When not on the radio she enjoyed her virtual happy hour group, lively discussions with a friend group who called themselves the Sinners, and spending time with her family, although we often heard, “I’ll be a little late; I have radio net!” She was a lifelong student of world history, politics, botany, archeology, geology, and many other topics. Lucille taught her daughter to identify plants, use a guidebook key, hunt the elusive morel, and view national politics with a cynical eye. She shared a love of vintage electronics with grandson Connor, enjoyed perusing rock collections with Zo’, shared making deserts like cannoli with Celina, and is remembered for indulging her grandchildren in their younger years with unlimited pickles, macaroni with clams, and strawberry ice cream. Her vibrant presence will be sorely missed.

Lucille is survived by her daughter, Michelle (Todd) Wietek-Stephens of Marquette; and grandchildren, Zo’, Celina, and Connor Stephens.

She was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, Lester Scotti. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to WNMU FM Public Radio 90 at wnmufm.org, Public Television at wnmutv.nmu.edu, or the Marquette Regional History Center at marquettehistory.org.

A Celebration of Lucille’s Life will be held on Sunday, February 1, 2026, from 2 pm to 4:30 pm at Fassbender Swanson Hansen Funeral and Cremation Services. Please join us to share remembrances of her extraordinary life.

Memories of Lucille may be shared at fassbenderswansonhansen.com