I am a 'Half-Finn'

Lately I have been learning about my Mom's family, my finnish heritage. My Mom's cousin Skip has been going through his mother's old family photos. His mom Irene was my Mother's Mother's sister, Inez. From the writing on these pics, it looks like the family called them 'Nes' & 'Rene'...how cute!
You can click on all the pics to enlarge.



The woman on the left in graduation garb is my grandmother Inez. I think she grew up in Duluth, Minnesota...so maybe that is where she graduated from. On the right the sisters pose with my aunt Carole and Skip. Carole is standing in front of Irene and Skip is in front of Inez.

I never met my grandmother Inez Kyllikki Heino Fernelius or my grandfather Lauri Arthur (he went by Art) Fernelius. Inez was born August 25th, 1912 in Port Arthur Ontario, Canada and died September 12th, 1980 in Allen Park, Michigan. Arthur was born February 28th, 1902 (my mom is not sure where)and died February 29th, 1972 in Southgate, Michigan.

Inez died just a day before my parents were married and 11 months before I arrived in the world. Growing up, my mother would speak of her parents most often in relation to mannerisms or connections she might notice between her girls and her mom. She would say that Jess was shy like Inez and that both of us had religious curiosity just as her Dad did. Jess and I both played piano as children and Inez was a concert pianist. Check out the clippings below.





Below Nes and Rene pose with their parents. Grandmother Inez is the darker haired woman on the right. Their parents Sylvia Alina Blixt Heino and Vaino (Waino) Aleksi Heino were Finnish immigrants. Sylvia was born Sept 7th, 1894 in Karstula, Finland, and died March 9th, 1945 in Duluth, Minnesota. Waino was born December 16th, 1888 in Houho, Finland, and died October 7th 1958 in Duluth, Minnesota. They immigrated first to Canada in 1909. Waino was a Finnish newspaper reporter and editor in the US. My mom remembers that he was nasty and wouldn't let them go to the roller skating rink! For the last 13 years of his life, after Sylvia died, Waino married a mail-order bride from Finland! Her name was Rria...my mom doesn't know how to spell it and she is not listed in the geneology. I guess the family wasn't fond of her, but my mom was fond of her. She taught my mother how to knit who then passed it down to me. The neat thing that I am kind of proud of is that we knit continental-style. It fell out of favor in the US during WWII. Still today when I join knitting circles I am the only one who knits in that style. I don't even know how to move my needles the more popular English way...isn't that funny!



I just bet that if Inez and I knew each other we would be friends. My mom described her as a thoughtful woman who was an artist homemaker. She made cookies for neighborhood kids (everyday my mom says...really, can that be true?) and did a lot of mending and clothesmaking and enjoyed needlecrafts (like my mom, my aunt and I do, too!). Some of my domestic tendancies seem to be from a different age and I imagine she would have had lots of tips to share with me.

But beyond the few words and stories of her life that have been shared with me, these pictures are like a treasure trove! I didn't know what Inez looked like, her full name, or much of her story. I still don't know much, but these pics are like a little gift to introduce me to my grandmother in a way that words don't.



Here she must be at 'the cabin'. Her family or my grandfather's family or maybe both had ties to the upper penninsula of Michigan where many of the early Finnish-American settlers lived.

Below is a pic of the 5 of them- Inez & Art (Lauri Arthur Fernelius) and their children, my Mom Susan and my Aunt Carole and their cousin Skip (on my grandfather's lap). My mother's expression is hilarious. Lastly- I could not get over the pic of the 3 of the kids playing in the dirt and the snowy day picture on the porch. Doesn't it look like my mother is wearing sandals? I bet not in the middle of winter in Michigan. Also my Mom has the cutest cheeks ever and I think my Mom still has that look about her.







Thank you Skip for the gift of these pictures and thank you Mom for sharing with us stories of your parents' character and qualities. It has been nice to be reminded of my heritage and to ponder all the lives lived and choices made that related to my coming into the world. These pictures leave much more to my imagination to be explored.
xoxo