Written Aug. 19, 1996, by Evelyn E. Hartman, M.D., Mayo Fellow 1947-1950, for the Mayo Alumni.

Erkki Leppo, 86, died April 12, 1996. Dr. Leppo completed his training in Pediatrics in 1953. He practiced in Duluth, Minnesota until his retirement in 1986, when he moved to Arizona. He graduated from the University of Helsinki, Finland, Medical School and received a Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins University, which he attended on a Rockefeller fellowship in 1939. After returning to Finland he worked for the Finland State Health Department and served in the Finnish Army during the Finnish-Russian Wars. From 1948 to 1950 he was employed by the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland for 1-1/2 years and in South Korea for 1/2 year. It was Dr. Henry Helmholz Sr. who encouraged him to come to Mayo for his training.

While in Duluth he served as chief of pediatrics at St. Luke's and St. Mary's hospitals and as chairman of the school health committee of the local medical society. He also was the American Academy of Pediatrics consultant for Head Start in northern Minnesota and was on the Governor's Council on Health, Welfare and Rehabilitation in Minnesota for 5 years.