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Below is a collection of the Laaksonen
Family photos, collected by Marvin and David. Feel free to send in scans of
other pictures (wedding pictures, family photos, pictures of notable and not
so notable family events) so that the album can be filled out a bit.
I. Otto Wilhelm
(1870-1953) and Ida Elina (1870-1954) Laaksonen
II. The Laaksonen Family, Otto's and Ida's children
A.
Lyyli (Lillian) Elina Sanden (1895-1983)
B.
Yrjö (George) Wilhelm Laaksonen (1896-1992)
C.
Katri (Katherine) Elina Ross (1900-1966)
D.
Ida (Edith) Elina Beeker (1902-1965)
E.
Urho Wilho Laaksonen (1905-1973)
F.
Irja Wilma Bates
III. Otto and Ida Laaksonen's
Grandchildren
A. Edith's only child Marvin
Horner (1922-1998)
B. Lil's children (Kenneth and
Gordon)
C. Yrjö's children (Donald, b.
1933; Helen, b.1935 and Marvin, b. 1936)
III. Otto and Ida Laaksonen's Great-Grandchildren
A. Donald's children
1. Karen Marie (Larson) Magee
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Otto and Ida
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I. Otto Wilhelm
(1870-1953) and Ida Elina (1870-1954) Laaksonen
1.  2.  3.  4.  5.  6. 
Otto was born Otto Wilhelm Ottosson (his patronym) on 8 Sep 1870 in Kärkölä Finland. He later
adopted the surname Laaksonen. Ida Elina Riihinen was born on 23 Sep 1870 in Petäjävesi Finland. 1. Ida and the
Puuttonen family taken in Helsinki. 2. Record of a
passport from the 1890s that is probably our family Otto's, in which he is
listed as a seaman. 3. Otto's passsport that he used when emigrating to the US (Chicago), issued on 18 Jun 1901. 4. Otto was a man of many
names, including Wilho and Wilhem. Why, we don't know. No evidence as of yet
linking Otto to anything illegal, except for delinquent taxes and small-scale
bootlegging. 5. Otto, Bill, Edith, Katri, Lyyli, and Ida in front of the 2nd
Laaksonen farm house in about 1910. The first farmhouse burned down in 1903,
killing Milda. 6.The Laaksonen family relaxing by the creek in about 1910.
The sauna is in the background.
7.  8.  9.  10.  11. 
7. The
Laaksonen family in about 1917. Ida and Otto are seated in front, Wilma is in
Ida's lap, and from left to right, Yrjö, Bill, Katri, Lyyli, Edith. 8. Otto,
with daughter Edith standing on the Kaleva Porch. 9. Ida and some friends at
Kaleva. Mummi is holding Marvin in the background. 10. Ida and her sister,
apparently the one from whom she inherited the Smokey Lake property.
Yrjö's cousin Millie is from that side of the family, and we may be getting
more information about her in the future. 11. Smokey Lake.
12.  13.  14.  15.  16. 
12.
Otto and Ida at Smokey Lake. Ida and Otto
moved there from Kaleva before the Depression, and lived there until about
1950, when they were forced to move away because of dementia. They had at
least one cow and some chickens, rented out cabins and operated a two-pump
gas station, which served as a front for a small bootlegging operation.13.
Watercolor of Ida at Smokey Lake. The Laaksonen
3rd generation remember Smokey Lake as being very
beautiful, log cabins with a boathouse and sauna over a beautiful lake. 14.
Ida at Smokey Lake. 15. Otto and
Ida with Edith between them during Christmas in about 1950. Leena Horner is
also pictured. 16. Otto and Ida, R.I.P.
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II. The Laaksonen Family, Otto's and
Ida's children.
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Lyyli
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A. Lyyli (Lillian)
Elina Sanden (1895-1983)
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1.  2.  3.  4. 
Lill was the eldest of the Laaksonen children. She was
born 31 Jul 1895 in Helsinki Finland, moved to Chicago after getting
married, and died in Florida. 1. Lyyli is
the tallest standing in the back. 2. Lill and her husband Ben. They had two
children, Kenneth and Gordon. 3. Lyyli and Edith. 4. Lyyli and Ida at Smokey Lake.
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Yrjö
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B. Yrjö (George) Wilhelm Laaksonen (1896-1992)
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1. 2.  3.  4.  5. 
1. Yrjö was Otto's and
Ida's second child. He is seated on the far right. 2. Yrjö's birth
certificate (in Finnish). He was born on 2
Nov 1996 in Helsinki Finland. 3. Another certificate
made in 1995 giving Yrjö's birth information, and also states that they moved
from Helsinki to Kotka on 18 Jun 1900. 4. After shelling out 21 USD, Ida, Yrjö, Lyyli and Katri left for Chicago via England on
the Polaris on the same Cunard Line ticket on 14 Dec 1901. Otto had left some time earlier. 5. Yrjö and his Confirmation class in
1912. Yrjö is seated in the front row, second from the left.
6.  7.  8.  9.  10.  11. 
6. This
is probably a picture of Yrjö (on the far left) as he leaves Kaleva for Chicago in 1916. 7.-
11. Yrjö as a bachelor. His sister Katri is with him in the photo on the
left. Yrjö left Kaleva for Chicago
at
age 19. He worked in Chicago from 918-1923
at Clyde & Sons, Lyman Tools and GE. He worked at Western Electric making
parts for phones and at Borg Warner operating an automatic screw machine. Yrjö returned to Detroit in 1923, starting work at the Ford Highland Park plant in 1923.
12.  13.  14.  15.  16. 
12.
Yrjö's first date with Hilja in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. We assume the
chaperone is taking the picture.13-14. Pictures of Yrjö and Hilja during the
early dating years (Hilja will have her own Photo Album in the near
future). Taken in Detroit in 1924. 15. A
rather moving hand-written message by Yrjö to Hilja in the inside cover of
the book "Piece of Gold. Poetry Series for Our Loved Ones". It
reads "From Yrjö to Hilja. Never forget me, even though the world easily
might". 16. Hilja and Yrjö married 13
Jul 1928. Here is a family photo taken in 1941, with
children Don, Marvin and Helen. Taken in Dearborn, MI.
17.  18.  19.  20. 
17.
Hilja, Yrjö, Donald, Helan and Marvin on a trip to Eveleth, Minnesota to visit Yrjö's
cousin Millie and family (Hippolas). 18. At the Hippolas. The Laaksonen's car
is in the background. 19. Yrjö became an American citizen in 1942, which may
explain why he didn't get drafted for WWI. 20. Yrjö and brother Bill, during
one of Bill's many stays for alcohol detoxification at the VA in Battle Creek MI.
21.  22.  23.  24.  25. 
21.
Yrjö was a Union man. Yrjö was an electrician at
Ford Co. from 1923 until retirement on 28 Feb 1962.
Yrjö was continuously employed even through the depression. 22. The Lantana
house. Yrjö and Hilja retired to Lantana in the fall of 1963. He was in
excellent health for almost all of his nearly 29 years in Lantana. 23.
Yrjö and Hilja visit Finland for the first time since they emigrated in the mid- to late 1960s. This
Savon Sanomat article from Kuopio marvels at how well their Finnish has been maintained. Yrjö is impressed
at the development of Finland. He supposes that Finns have to work harder because of less
mechanization, which was probably still true then. 24. Yrjö and Hilja in the
1970s. 25. Yrjö and Hilja visiting Hilja's siblings and offspring at the
Räsänen farmstead, where Hilja was born and raised. They were rental farmers,
but the family got the farmland during the land reforms of the 1920s.
26.  27.  28.  29.  30. 
26.
Yrjö collecting vihtoja, or vastoja in eastern Finland, for
self-flagellation in the sauna. 27. Yrjö and Hilja in their late 80s. 28-29.
Hilja and Yrjö visiting the family cemetery in Kaleva, where Otto, Ida and
children Katherine and Edith are buried. 30. The Laaksonen offspring get
nervous (just a joke).
31.  32.  33. 
31.
Yrjö drove cross-country until the early to mid 1980s. In this letter Yrjö
thinks maybe he better not drive from Florida to Pennsylvania to visit Helen.
He was about 90 at this point. 32. Yrjö's last driving license, issued in
1988. In his last few years he drove usually only a few blocks. Driving with
Yrjö in the later years was an experience not easily forgotten. On the
other hand, his son Marvin points out that Yrjö never had an accident, and
was able to maneuver through airports even in his early 90s. 33. Yrjö died on
13 Aug 1992 from large cell
liver cancer. He is buried next to Hilja in Lantana (Lake Worth?).
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Katri
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C. Katri (Katherine) Elina
Ross (1900-1966)
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1. 2. 3.  4.
1. Katri was the fourth
child of Otto and Ida, born 13 July 1900, Kotka, Finland. The places
where other Laaksonens were born are also marked on the map. 2. Katri is
standing directly behind Ida. 3. Something went wrong with Katri at some
point while growing up or during early adulthood. Katherine was officially
married to Sam Ross, a minor player for the Purple Gang. The Purple Gang was
a Jewish racketeering gang that was apparently at its peak during the
Prohibition. Katherine was alleged to be a moll in the gang (according to the
author of a book on the Purple Gang). Katherine later became an alcoholic. 4.
Katri's last resting place in the family cemetery in Kaleva.
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Edith
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D. Ida (Edith) Elina Beeker
(1902-1965)
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1. 2.  3.  4.  5. 
Edith was born 16
Feb 1902 in Chicago. 1. Edith is on
the far left. 2. Edith on the Kaleva farmhouse porch, behind Otto. 3. Lyyli
and Edith. 4. Edith with Otto and Ida and Leena Horner (her daughter-in-law)
around 1950. 5. Edith's last resting
place in the Kaleva Cemetery.
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Bill
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E. Urho Wilho (Bill) Laaksonen (1905-1973)
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1. 2.  3.  4. 
Bill was born 27
April 1905 in Kaleva Michigan. 1. Bill is
standing next to Yrjö on the left. 2. He was a private in the army, but
apparently never saw action. His common-law wife was Marie. They had no children.
3. Before the war. 4. He was in and out of the VA for alcohol problems.
Recovering at the VA in 1947, posing with his nephews Marvin and
Don.
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Wilma
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F. Irja Wilma Bates
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1. 2.  3. 
Wilma was the seventh (eighth if we count one stillborn
child in about 1910) and final child of Otto and Ida. According to Marvin she
was attractive and extroverted. She died in 1989, leaving a daughter and a
grandson. 1. Wilma is sitting in Ida's lap. 2. Wilma as a small child,
standing in the front on the right. Uncle Bill is next to her. 3. Wilma as a
young lady.
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III. Otto and Ida Laaksonen's Grandchildren
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Marvin Horner
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A. Edith's only child Marvin Horner (1922-1998)
1.  2. 
Marvin Horner was born 30
Jun 1922 during Edith's first marriage. Marvin was raised by
Otto and Ida in Kaleva, for which reason Finnish was the language at home.
Like his cousins Don, Marvin and Helen, Marvin did not remember his grandparents
as being particularly warm, esp. Otto. 1. Marvin, his aunt Lil and
cousin Gordon visiting Smokey Lake. 2. Marvin
fought in the Pacific theater in WWII. He was seriously wounded and
spent nearly a year in a VA hospital. Marvin and his cousins Donald, Marvin
and Helen kept in touch, and in Marvin's later years, made several trips
together.
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Kenneth
Sanden Gordon Sanden
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B. Lyyli's
children (Kenneth and Gordon).
1.  2. 
1. Gordon on the right in
the foreground with his cousin Marvin Horner and mother Lil. A grown up
Gordon. Gordon attended Northwestern Law School and had a
successful career before retiring. He now lives in California. We don't have
any pictures of Kenneth, a successful CPA who died in the mid-to-late 1990s
of diabetes-related complications.
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Donald Larson
Helen Montesi Marvin Larson
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C. Yrjö's children (Donald, b. 1933;
Helen, b.1935 and Marvin, b. 1936)
1.a.  1.b.  2.  3.  4.  5.  6. 
Donald was born in Dearborn on 10 Mar 1933. Helen was born 29 Apr 1935 and Marvin 19 Sep 1936. Hilja was determined to
give their children a better life, and decided that Donald would becom a
doctor, Helen a teacher and Marvin a dentist. Her occupational planning
worked out. 1.a. Yrjö and Hilja with baby Donald. 1.b. Donald, Marvin and
Helen. Mummi is on the far right, and her sister Hilma's daughter Elsa is in
the middle next to her. 2. Marvin is in the background, held by Hilja. Ida is
with friends. Taken in Kaleva. 3. In Kaleva. 4. Marvin in Hilja's lap.
Mummi's cousin once removed Siiri is seated next to her.
5-6. Alisa's mother Alma Turunen Happonen and Hilja went to grade school
together in Litmaniemi Finland. The Happonens
and Laaksonens kept in touch while in America.
7.  8.  9.  10.  11. 
7.
Don's first language was Finnish, and his confirmation class was is Finnish,
although his, Helen's and Marvin's knowledge of Finnish while growing up was
mainly passive. Donald's and Marvin's Finnish has become rusty over the
years, but Helen's Finnish improved markedly while taking care of mummi in
her final years. Pictured is Donald's Finnish alphabet book. 8. Marvin and
Don with Uncle Bill. 9. Donald was awarded a Henry Ford Scholarship, paying
90% of his expenses for four years. 10. Uncle Marvin visiting Don during his
first year of medical school. But the first of skeletons dug out of the
Laaksonen closet. 11. Donald's engagement with Alisa Happonen is announced in
the paper.
12. 13.14. 15. 16.
12.
Name change. 13. Marvin Laaksonen follows suit in 1960. 14. Marvin's and
Marge's marriage certificate (24 June 1967). 15. One of
Marvin's many notable achievements was Team Dentist for the Detroit Lions.
16. Marvin had Yrjö's Confirmation Certificate framed and donated it to the Kaleva Museum. Marvin also
donated a railroad spike to the museum. These generous acts alone make him a
philanthropist by Laaksonen standards.
17.  18.  19.  20.  21.  22. 
17. Don
with his grandchildren. 18. Bob and Helen in 1998 in Dallas. 19-20. Marvin
is spearheading both the Laaksonen Farm Salvage Effort and the Laaksonen
Centennial Farm Project. This is in the very beginning. For more, see History of Kaleva and the Laaksonen Family
Farm. 21. Marvin relaxing. 22. Three generations of
Laaksonens.
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III. Otto and Ida Laaksonen's
Great-Grandchildren
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A.
Donald's children
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1.  2.  3.  4.  5. 
1.
Kaleva in 1971. 2. Pittsburgh, 1994. 3. Springfield, Illinois.
6.  7.  8.  9. 
6.
- 9. 1998 - 1999.
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