Bio of BOUSU, Annie (PAAVO) (b.1886 d.1975), Wright Co., MN ========================================================================= USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. If you have found this file through a source other than the MNArchives Table Of Contents you can find other Minnesota related Archives at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm Please note the county and type of file at the top of this page to find the submitter information or other files for this county. FileFormat by Terri--MNArchives Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Virginia Schultz Submitted: July 2003 ========================================================================= This is for my grandmother, Annie Paavo Bousu --- Biography of Annie Paavo Bousu by Virginia Mattson Schultz, her granddaughter Annie was born April 27, 1886, on a farm near Cokato, Wright County, Minnesota. She was the third of five children born to Greta Gustava (Esko) and Erick Edvard Paavo. She had an older brother and sister and a younger brother and sister. The family spoke Finnish at home. Annie spoke of her father affectionately, but she did say he was strict. She said, for instance, that the children were not allowed to talk at the dinner table, or they would be sent to their rooms. Annie and her younger sister Esther must have been sent to their rooms frequently. They did a lot of giggling. It sounds as though Annie and her siblings had a happy childhood on their farm. Their farm was prosperous enough to allow Erick to send money back to Finland to help other Finns come to America. Annie had pretty clothes and hats. Annie went through 6th grade at the local rural school. She was too shy to go board in town to be able to continue school. However, she was a reader and read constantly. Sometime about 1905 or 1910 she went to Minneapolis Business College though. By 1913 Annie had found the love of her life, Kustaus Aatolf Poussu, known as Adolphe. On March 26, 1913, the two of them were married at the Finnish Apostolic Lutheran Church in Cokato, where they were both members. Adolphe and Annie bought a farm and were looking forward to a wonderful life together. In December 1913 their first child was born, Delvin Carlos. The next year, September 5, 1914, their second child was born, LeRoy Gorden. LeRoy, however, was a sickly baby, and he died in infancy. The term used then was "blue baby", and LeRoy's heart was poor. In 1917 their third child was born, a girl named Winifred Gustava, my mother. Little did this loving couple know that the Spanish Influenza epidemic had begun in eastern United States. 31-year old Adolphe was a prime candidate for catching the influenza. He was a healthy farm boy who had not been exposed to many diseases. He did catch a bad case of Spanish influenza, but he was improving. His wife Annie was pregnant. Adolphe, being a good farmer, was concerned about his animals, and he insisted on going out to check on them. In his weakened condition, this was too much for him, and he died of pneumonia. Annie was devastated by Adolphe's death. The following spring their baby, Raymond Adolphe, was born. He was a sickly baby but survived. All three of Annie's children had asthma. Annie and her children moved in with her parents, the parents living downstairs and Annie and the children upstairs. In 1934 her daughter Winnie started school at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Winnie was a particularly good student. Winnie was going to live with a family in St. Paul near the school and work for them. That didn't work out, so Annie decided to move to St. Paul and live with Winnie. It sounds as though they both enjoyed the situation. Then she moved back to Cokato. In late 1934 and 1935 Annie's parents died. They had been living downstairs in the house in Cokato, while Annie and her children lived upstairs. When they died, Annie moved downstairs. In 1936 there was again a young couple moving in upstairs, when Delvin and Mary got married. Mary was from nearby Collinwood. When they had a son, Dale, in 1937, Annie was delighted to have a child around again. Winnie graduated from Macalester College in 1938, and Raymond started at Macalester in about 1940. Meanwhile Annie kept living in the same town she was born in. Esther h ad married and lived at the farm where she and Annie grew up. John, Annie's brother, hadn't liked living in Saskatchewan, Canada, and was back in Cokato, living at the Cokato Hotel. He came over every morning and had coffee. Annie was active in her church and had friends over for coffee ever so often. Annie certainly enjoyed having Del, Mary, and Dale living upstairs. She also had a dog named Cassius, which had been Winnie's. In 1941 Winnie got married, and Ray got married in 1943. Annie made trips to Trempealeau, Wisconsin, to visit Winnie and her family, and to Rapid City, South Dakota, to visit Ray and Dorothy and their family. In 1969 Annie and her daughter Winnie went to Finland to visit family. Both spoke fluent Finnish. They rented a yellow Toyota Corolla and thoroughly enjoyed their trip. They visited Äkäslompolo and Turtola Villages and Tampere and Helsinki. In Turtola they were able to stay in the same house that Annie's mother had been born in. Annie said that she dreamt that her mother came in the room with coffee and coffee breads. She also went on trips to the Virgin Islands and Mexico. After the trips Annie began to have health problems. She had surgery for a detached retina. Also about this time she was having small strokes and falling down. The family was worried about her. Eventually, after a more serious stroke she went to live at the Cokato Manor nursing home. Her son Ray, a doctor, was visiting and decided to move her to a nursing home near him in Rapid City, South Dakota. The strokes continued, and on August 2, 1975, she died in Rapid City.