Wes's Retrospective Regarding . . .

    . .Grandpa John Hakanen- Grandfather John was a physically fit man who was about 5 foot 10 inches in height and a lean 160 pounds.  He had excellent posture and as far as I remember he was always in good health.  There were a few times I recall when he would get severe nose bleeds and the doctor had to come to the house.  It was a frightening thing.  I’m not sure what caused the problem; I don’t think it was a blood pressure problem.  Aunt Edith said she remembers him doing exercises when she was a young girl.  She counted for him while he did his exercises.

Grandpa was an even-tempered man who had a very practical nature.  He was somewhat like the patriarch of Finntown, the section of town the family lived in.   Many of the other Finns came to him for help and advice.  Aunt Edith tells how he would send his daughters to help Mrs. Lindrose, whose husband had left her with two young sons to care for. Grandfather took it upon himself to watch over her wellbeing. 

He provided a place in his home for his brothers and sisters.  They all lived there at one time or another.  Uncle Ernie said you knew when not to get Grandpa mad.  I personally never saw him lose his temper but somehow we kids knew it was best to be on our best behavior when he was around.  I remember if we were ‘acting -up', Grandpa would grumble something in Finn to Grandma and she would reply, in Finn, probably defending us.  No doubt, his occasional grumbling was what kept us all ‘on our toes’, we knew he wasn’t happy about something but weren’t quite sure. Grandpa worked in the coalmines and I think it was he who took my Dad, Sulo, into the mines when he first started at around age 20.  When a person started in the mines he started with an experienced ‘buddy’ until he learned the ropes and learned proper and safe procedures.  Ernie said during the depression when there wasn’t work at the mines Grandpa worked on the road crew building U.S. Route 422.  Other than going to work and occasional rides with his brother Elmer or his son Ernie on week ends, Grandfather very seldom left home.  He never went to town or shopping. 

The Hakanen homestead was a plot of a little more than an acre on the corner of Roberts and Finn Streets in Nanty-Glo Borough.  That section of town is known as 'Finntown' and it is where the Finnish Cemetery is located. Grandfather always kept the entire property immaculate.  There was a sauna next to the house and all the Finn people in the area would come to use it.

The Hakanens had a carpet loom in their basement and people would bring old clothing to make into warp.  Grandfather would spend hours making carpet on that loom.  He seemed to enjoy making carpet.  It’s not certain if he sold the carpets he made or just gave them to people who provided warp.  Perhaps a little of both, he certainly made a lot of carpet.   Grandfather John died April 7, 1960 in Nanty-Glo Pennsylvania.

    . . Grandma Hakanen- Grandmother Hakanen was only 43 when I was born but I remembers her as the ideal image of a ‘grandmother’, about 5 foot three and a matronly figure.  She wore gingham dresses, her hair in a bun and she was always in the kitchen preparing something good to eat.  She was my favorite person in the whole world.  I loved her very much, she was very good to me.  From early photographs, it is obvious she was a striking beauty as a young woman.  I remember her as a quiet, unassuming, kind person who was genuinely concerned for the well being of everyone around her.  When you consider that she earned her own money to venture to America at seventeen in spite of her parents’ objections, she must have had a strong will and self confidence to spare.  I always felt a special bond with Grandma; it was always nice being around her.  Aunt Edith said she didn’t believe it was right to brag about yourself or your children and she taught all her children to respect their elders.

I remembers spending a lot of time with her while she sewed on her ‘peddle’ sewing machine.  She was an excellent seamstress and made clothing for many of the other Finn women in the area.  Her son, Ernie, said she never charged any of them.  My mother often said that Grandma Hakanen used those sessions at the sewing machine to ‘pump’ me for information about what was going on at our house. I imagine that was true because my mother probably seemed like a 'fast-living woman' to Grandma.  She smoked, was out spoken and could curse like a trooper if the occasion called for it.

I remembers a Finnish Lutheran Church building in Nanty-Glo but as I recall the congregation was no longer active.  Locating a Finnish-speaking minister was a problem and the older Finns weren’t comfortable with English services.   As a result I don’t remember grandmother attending church but I have always believed she personified what a true Christian should be.  She was kind to and concerned for everyone. She passed away May 11, 1966.  She was seventy-seven.

    . . Grandpa J.P. Whitsell- Grandfather Whitsell was a man who stood about 5 foot 7 or 8 inches in height.  He was not a heavy man; he probably weighed about 160 pounds.  He was always very kind to Me and he enjoyed a good laugh.  His laugh was a distinct and hardy one.  He enjoyed telling jokes and would laugh as he told them.  He was a coal miner all his working life.  He used to tell about the early days of the miner's union movement.  He enjoyed pitching horseshoes and was very good at the sport.  He carried a set of shoes and pegs in the trunk of his car and was always ready for a game.  He built two courts in a lot across the street from his house.  They were professional grade courts, with special clay and ashen areas along side the pits and along the pathways between the courts.  I recall someone saying he attempted to get patents for thing he developed. Some were work related for the coal mines.  One I recall was for a car wheel that would separate to make tire repair easier.  I have never investigated any of these stories and am not sure if they are factual.

In his later years he read the bible quite often and attended church regularly.  Wes can't recall if he was a regular church attendee during the years Wes was a young child.  Grandfather died June 3, 1967.  In Mercy Hospital, Johnstown Pennsylvania.  He was buried in the Ebensburg cemetery, Ebensburg, Pennsylvania.