Family Links

Spouses/Children:
Hilja Maria (Happonen) Laaksonen

Yrjö (George) Wilho Laaksonen 1

  • Born: 2 Nov 1896, Helsinki Finland
  • Married: 13 Jul 1928, Detroit, Michigan
  • Died: 13 Aug 1992, Detroit, Michigan
  • Buried: Lantana, FL

 

 

   Cause of his death was large cell carcinoma of the liver.

   General Notes:

Social Security Number: 367-09-5954

 The zip code listed in the death locality field
is the last place of residence.

Death Residence Locality
ZIP Code: 33462
Lantana, Palm Beach, Florida

   Medical Notes:

Yrjö was very healthy up to his last months. He had mildly elevated blood pressure, but no medications and no chronic diseases.

   Events:

1. Born 4 Nov 1896, Helsinki Finland. See the Laaksonen Family Photoalbum.

2. The Laaksonen family moved to Kotka from Helsinki in June 1900.

3. Emigration to US, 14 Dec 1901, from Helsinki Finland to Chicago on the Cunard Lines, arriving into Ellis Island on 7 Jan 1902. Otto had left already, and Ida traveled with Lyyli, Yrjö, Milda and Katri on the same ticket.

4. Yrjö strikes out on his own: 1916-1918, Detroit. Yrjö left his loving home in Kaleva for Detroit in 1916, first working at the Cadillac Body Plant on 23rd and 4rth St for 25 cents an hour without benefits, fashioning body parts out of hardwood. After that he worked at Copper & Brass as a tinsmith, making metal guards.

5. Yrjö moves to Chicago, 1918-1923. Yrjö held a variety of jobs, including jobs 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.

6. Electrician at Ford Co.: 1923-1962, Detroit, Michigan. Yrjö returned to Detroit in 1923, starting work at the Ford Highland Park plant in 1923. He transferred to the Ford's Rouge plant in 1925, where he worked for 19 years until retirement on 28 Feb 1962. Yrjö was continuously employed even through the depression.

Yrjö may have only finished the 6th grade, but he was also self-educated, mainly about current events, and also had a knowledge of algebra at the high school level. He went to night school (in Chicago?) to become an electrician.

7. Yrjö's and Hilja's first date (see the Laaksonen Family Photoalbum) in 1924 in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. It was apparently a blind date. The housekeeping crew of the Klingensmith estate had Sunday off.  This was the time to socialize, and somehow Yrjö and Hilja were invited. Klingensmith was an executive with General Motors. Yrjö courted Hilja during the years 1924 - 1928.

8. Marriage to Hilja Happonen on 13 Jul 1928, Detroit, Michigan.

9. Children Donald, Helen and Marvin were all born in the years 1933-1936. The Laaksonens lived in Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit, on Pinehurst Street until 1948, when they moved ¼ of a mile to Detroit proper.

10. Naturalization, 29 Sep 1942, Detroit, Michigan. Yrjö was granted citizenship through derivitization (while Yrjö was still a minor and resident of the US, his father Otto became a US citizen).

11. Yrjö spent 29 long and, except for the last few months, very healthy years in Lantana. They stayed with the Schultzes (Mrs. Schultz was a grade school classmate of Hilja’s) for a couple months while Arne Kärki, husband of Siiri Ihalainen (Hilja’s first cousin once removed) built their house in Lantana for 14,000 USD in 1963. Lantana had then as now a large Finnish American community, but over the years demographics began to change, encroaching on the area they lived in. Their house was burglarized in the 1980s, forcing them to step up security. Summers were spent in Kaleva until the mid 1980s.

12. Driver's license, issued in 1988, Lantana, FL (see the  Laaksonen Family Photoalbum). Yrjö made trips by car to Kaleva for summer all the way into the mid-1980s. He didn't drive much in his last few years, just a few blocks usually. Those in the passenger seat found it to be an experience not easily forgotten and not necessary to repeat. On the other hand Yrjö never had an accident in his more than 70 years of driving, and maneuvered through the Florida airports even in his early 90s, not an easy feat even for younger drivers.

13. Yrjö died on 14 Aug 1992 in Detroit, Michigan. Marvin and Yrjö were planning a trip to FinnFest that summer in Minnesota, and had planned on staying with Yrjö’s cousin Millie in Eveleth. Yrjö health was failing, and the trip was cancelled the day before the intended departure.

   Marriage Information:

Yrjö married Hilja Maria (Happonen) Laaksonen, daughter of Taavetti Happonen and Hilja Maria Happonen, on 13 Jul 1928 in Detroit, Michigan. (Hilja Laaksonen was born on 28 Oct 1898 in Litmaniemi, Finland, died on 10 Jun 1996 and was buried in Lantna FL.)

Home | Surnames | Name List

This Web Site was Created 9 Dec 2001 with Legacy 3.0 from Millennia

    More Info

This site was made with the (free) Legacy 3.0 genealogy program, and edited with Word 2000.

The descendent tree chart was made with TreeDraw for Legacy, PowerPoint and FrontPage.