Jurmu Family Welcomes All To Celebrate 70th Anniversary

The family of Audrey and Russell Jurmu of Severna Park are inviting all to celebrate the couple’s 70th wedding anniversary. Greetings may be mailed (address below) or sent virtually. A semiformal drive-by party is planned for January 6, 2021, from 2:00pm to 5:00pm. Drive by, honk and join in the festivities. Drive-by cookie bags will be shared.

From their youth as two Finnish American kids from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the Great Lakes State, Audrey and Russell have been childhood sweethearts all of their lives. The Finnish American heritage has been an important ingredient to their relationships. Both of their mothers’ names are inscribed on the wall at the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island. They lived primarily in a Finnish community, reading and speaking the language. At their home today, they can be heard speaking Finnish.

They married in a snowstorm on a 30-degree day, amidst their families, and took off into the world inside their 1938 Coupe to create their families and careers in their new adopted home, Baltimore, nicknamed “America in Miniature.” Patterson Park was the melting pot for many immigrants, and the Jurmu family found many Finnish Americans who lived there. They prospered and danced at the old armory in Baltimore, bought groceries at Lexington Market, ate their first blue crab, and sailed out of the Inner Harbor. Their children were born at Johns Hopkins, and one of their granddaughters received her education at Johns Hopkins and lives at Patterson Park.

They moved on to Glen Burnie, where Russ worked at Westinghouse, and Audrey became a kindergarten teacher for hundreds of children at St. Paul’s Lutheran School of Glen Burnie. They both graduated from Maryland universities — Russell from the University of Baltimore and Audrey from University of Maryland. The two have been active and vibrant at St Paul’s Lutheran Church; they are thankful to have so many friends.

Living in Pasadena and in Severna Park, they raised two daughters, Diane and Kathy, staying close to their other Finnish family members. They have enjoyed boating, swimming and fishing in the Chesapeake Bay area. They became involved in the garden club and the senior groups in the area. Audrey and Russ are engaged in their neighborhood. They are proud grandparents to Christopher, Evi, Mikko, Matti and Stacy, and they are proud of new great-granddaughter Lydia.

Having a Finnish family meant sitting down with many cups of coffee and cardamom rolls, and having a houseful of laughing, musical personalities to visit. They kept in touch with their Finnish families: a sister, Karen Mattson; nephews and nieces in Alaska; children and grandchildren in California; cousins, Ollikainens, Kurikkas and Jurmus in Finland; and a brother, Erven Makis, and cousins in Florida. Jurmu brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews sprinkle themselves in the Midwest and Southeast; they have nurtured and loved everyone who comes to their doors.

Kittos, as the expression goes, in Finn. The family thanks Audrey and Russ for their stability and faith, and for being exemplary models for generations to come. It is a rare event to celebrate happiness for 70 years of marriage, and the family is honored to be a part of this unique event.

“We thank them for the legacy that they have left. And we ask God’s blessings on their future lives together and their Finnish and American family.” — From the Jurmu family

Letters can be mailed to 306 Galena Court, Millersville, MD 21108.