Thanks

A special word of thanks to Kim Simelius and Kari Simelius who both provided me with a great deal of information and a wealth of valuable content for this blog.  Having searched for the Simelius name on Google I stumbled on this amazing website filled with precious information. I then found Kim on Facebook and sent him a message. He replied and it turned out he was my little little cousin! Indeed, his great grandfather and my great grandmother were brother and sister. Amazing stuff. Kiitos Kim and Kari!

Furthermore a super big thank you goes out to Harri Koskela who is my second cousin. His grandfather Eero was my grandfather Kaarlo's brother. His family pictures were a joy to discover and even more so his detailed family stories have been priceless for this blog, so much so, much of them are used in the blog as-is, word by word! Thanks so much Harri!

A further very special thanks to Leena Repo, who has given me incredibly valuable information regarding the whereabouts of my grandfather's and great grandfather's grave and has provided me with tonnes of historical insight. Thanks to her maps and pictures my upcoming "pilgrimage" to visit the grave in Viipuri should be much less of a treasure hunt. She is part of the association taking care of restoring Viipuri heritage and has done huge amounts of work at the Sorvali cemetery.  She is also the author of this amazing reference guide book to the Sorvali cemetery. Much respect to her and her work.

Another thanks goes to Markku Haapanen, a professional genealogist at the Pirkanmaan sukututkimustoimisto (Genealogy research office of Pirkanmaa), who helped me find out information about my uncle Pertti.

If anyone reading this has complimentary information, relevant documentation, comments or would like to assist me with Finnish translations, please do get in touch! Thank you.