Finnish Visitors Tour Deep River Pioneer Church

On September 9, two distinguished gentlemen

from Finland toured the Finnish Pioneer Church

in Deep River. Mr. Hannu Penttilä, the retired

Deputy Mayor of both Helsinki and Vantaa (the

fourth biggest city in Finland) and Mr. Matti Lahdenranta, the retired Managing Director of Helsinki Mass Transit were in the Northwest to visit

city planning and mass transit officials in Seattle

and in Portland.

In an introductory letter to Eva Malerich, Mr.

Lahdenranta wrote, "I am kindly asking you if it

could be possible to come to the Deep River Church

and see it inside, also. We both have read a book

by Karl Marlantes "Deep River" and we suppose

that the Deep River Lutheran Church is exactly

the same church which appears in the book. Certainly it would be very interesting if you or someone you know could have time to tell us something

about the church and perhaps something about

the Finnish heritage in the area."

Malerich, who lives in Virginia, passed the

request on to Chuck and Roxanne Hendrickson.

The meeting was confirmed, and several area

residents were on hand to greet the visitors upon

their arrival at the church, including Robert and

Marilyn Johnson, Victor and Wendy Liguori, Nick

Nikkila and the Hendricksons.

Visiting both the Deep River cemetery and the

church, the pair commented on the original condition of the interior of the church and the area's

pride in its Finnish ancestry. All enjoyed the food

and pastry provided by the local residents and the

discussion about the church and local area prior

to the visitors' departure to meet with officials in

Portland.