The Raumas


Arthur Victor Rauma was born in December of 1902 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, the son of Reverend John Victor and Suzzie Oikemus Rauma, pastor of the local Lutheran church. Arthur Victor was a gifted athlete with considerable musculature. The sixth of seven children, Arthur Victor was the third child born in the United States as well as the third boy. A younger brother died soon after being born resulting in Arthur growing up as the youngest child in the family.

GymnastAs an adult Arthur Victor developed a drinking problem which is the probable cause of the violence he committed against his wife and only child, John Arthur. One time my father, John Arthur was driving through Boston with the three of us in the back when he saw his father on the street. Stopping the car, he crossed the street to speak with him. He informed his father that his grandchildren were across the street in the car and asked if he wanted to meet them. Declining the opportunity he instead asked for money so my father gave him $10 and we continued on our way. Eventually Arthur Victor died on the streets of New Hampshire in 1968. 

 My grandfather, Arthur Victor is the one on top.

Miriam Wahtola, a successful businesswoman, was born in Finland, the second child and second daughter of Andrew and Gustava Wahtola. Miriam had a volatile relationship with her eventual husband and got pregnant by the preacher’s son without benefit of marriage. Miriam Wahtola and Arthur Victor Rauma married in January of 1929 and her only child, John Arthur, was born at home in June of that same year. Reverend John Victor Rauma, the groom’s father, performed the ceremony. Miriam later married Harold Cooper and lived with him in Fitchburg, MA until his death in 1969. She died in 1971 of colon cancer. The photo below is how I remember her.

Miriam Aino Kustave Wahtola

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