welcome to dad !
Dad was born in Virginia, Minnesota. He was the second oldest with two
younger sibs. Both of his parents were from Finland. His father,
Jack, arrived in 1920; the verdict is still out on when his mother,
Edith arrived in America. Edith was a nurse; his dad was a clothier.
Jack was a graduate of Suomi College in Hancock, Michigan,
and spent some years as a photographer in Ely, Minnesota. His family
was musical, intelligent, humorous, talented, and a little crazy.
Jack died in 1953 at 61, when I
was in second grade. Dad would have been about 28 then. Awfully young
to lose your father. His mother died in 1985 at
85. They had property on Sand Lake, Minnesota. Fond
memories.
Interesting photo below. I am certain the young woman is Edith. (click
on the photo to enlarge - e-mail me if
you know who it is.
Dad's older brother William (Bill) was the star of the family. He married
Audrey . They had two children, Denise and Jack. Bill was a
pilot in the second world war. My dad was in training to become
a jet pilot, but the war was over before he finished. His mother
always said he "washed out" -- a comment which diminished him greatly. Dad did have a pilot's license. I
believe he got it when he was 16 or so. I have his license. He
was still carrying it in his wallet when he died at 78. I also
have his discharge papers from the military (the
Army, Air Force and National Guard). He served in Korea with the
Guard.
Dad's sister, Muriel, married Jim and they had seven children, James, Theresa,
Beatrice, Elizabeth, Virginia, David and Barbara. Jim was career Air
Force. Both Muriel and Jim are deceased.
John was the youngest in the family. He and his wife Kathy (from
England, I think) had two daughters, Penny and Pamela,
and one son, Peter. His children all live in Minnesota. He and
Kathy divorced and he married Judy. Both John and Judy are deceased.
dad's job
Dad worked all of his adult, family life at the Galion
Iron Works, the
early years as a welder, working on Road Graders and Road Rollers; later years as a grader tester and I think he ended his career as a supervisor. He provided well for his family.
his paintings
After retirement, Dad took up painting. I like his style. This is one
of his paintings of Pike's Peak in Denver.
I have a lot of photos from visits to Virginia, MN. They aren't currently available, as I will have to scan them (before I got my digital) but there are some really cool photos.
