10th Finglish trip July 2010 #22
Irja Mirjam Elisabeth Kallas was born in 1919 in Hausjärvi, Finland. Her parents were railwayman Aaron Edward Oinaala and Maria Sofia née Rimpiläinen. She went to school in Riihimäki and graduated from business school. In Finland she worked as a clerk, cashier, correspondent and as an archivist.
In the spring of 1950 Mirjam migrated to Canada. Next year she married an Estonian born Sulev Kallas. In Canada they lived in Sudbury. Mirjam worked as a secretary at the Finnish Historical Society and as a president of the Sudbury Folk Arts Council she was also the secretary of the committee of the Canadian Finn Fest in 1977. Mirjam was also one of the founders of the Finnish Rest Home Association of Ontario.
After her death in 1977 a Mirjam Kallas Memorial Award was eshtablished to support Finnish and Estonian background students at the Laurentian University in Sudbury.
© Oja Family Album
Next 2011 Hannu Mikkonen San Diego California USA