Doris Lorraine Havumaki

Doris Lorraine (Pekkarinen) Havumaki, died Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, at North Country Regional Hospital.

No services will be held. Olson-Schwartz Funeral Home of Bemidji assisted the family with arrangements.

She was born in Markham, Minn., on the Iron Range. She was the youngest of 12 children in a Finnish family. At 19, she was a teacher in a one room school house. She met Sulo Havumaki and at age 20. She secretly traveled by train to Arizona, as he was stationed in California, to marry him.

She and her husband traveled around the country until he was sent overseas. Upon his return, they lived in Duluth, Floodwood, Minn., and Minneapolis, where she worked as a proofreader and substitute teacher, and her husband worked on his advanced degrees at the University of Minnesota. They lived in St. Paul for one year, and then moved to Bemidji. They lived with their children in a cabin built by her husband and his best friend. She finished her undergraduate work and earned her master’s degree from Bemidji State University, graduating with a 4.0 grade point average. She worked for more than 25 years for federal job programs, initially in Cass Lake and then in Bemidji, until her retirement. After her retirement, she became a volunteer with Friends of the Library. She enjoyed fishing, kept up on current events and was a staunch Democrat. She enjoyed traveling to Europe, Mexico, Hawaii and California.

She is survived by her children, Tana, Britta (Jay) Youmans, Matthew and Luke (Ruth); five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Memorials are preferred to the Bemidji Public Library or the McKee-Havumaki Scholarship fund at Bemidji State University.

Online guestbook at olsonschwartzfuneralhome.com.