Kirjahaku

Biography of an amazing woman, my grandmother, born in 1908, who is 105 years old and has lived an incredible life, growing up on ranches in Colorado and in urban Phoenix, Arizona, while being the oldest of 13 and raising 3 of her own children. She lived all over Arizona, in southern Utah, and has traveled the U.S. and Canada by horse, horse and buggy, truck, automobile, bus, train, plane, helicopter, and fishing boat, ferry, and cruise ship. A true Renaissance Woman, she knows the arts and crafts of home management, food preparation, sewing, oil painting, writing, cake decorating, crocheting, knitting, etc. In addition, she camped, hunted, fished, and was an amateur archeologist. This is her story as told by her, family members, friends, and composed by myself, her first granddaughter. 83 photos included.

Wanda Wakkinen, oldest daughter of O.O. Pete Wakkinen, writes this combination family history, memoir, and photo display in his honor and for his memorial. With my grandparents, his parents, coming from Finland, landing at and settling in Ohio, and later Wisconsin, to my dad s interesting life working on Western rivers, this story of his life contains many stories within it. The remembered peeks into Pete s life come from me; my mom, his wife of 28 years; my sister and brother; and other family members. Enjoy his reign of 88 years as Little Oiva, an Army man, an adventurous hunter of women and beasts, a family man, and lastly, The Mayor of the tiny community in which he spent his last ten years as a stroke survivor.