Aino was the beloved “Granny” to two step-sons, Raivo and Vaido, six grandchildren, Tavo, Taali, Inger, Hillar, Mark and Kris, and nine great-grandchildren, Rein, Eva, Hansi, Annika, Paige, Kyler, Elizabeth, Rose, and Madeline. A family reunion and celebration of her 90th Birthday was held some years back at the Rooneem home in Collingwood, Ontario. Family and friends came from all over the globe for that special occasion.

Aino was born in Tallinn, Estonia. The eruption of WW II forced the teen-aged Aino and her mother to flee their home and find safety in a refugee camp in Bamberg, Germany. To earn some money there, they created embossed leather designs and national costumed dolls which they sold to the occupying forces.

Her early life took many different and difficult routes. In order to leave Europe and get to Canada, she and some other young people agreed to work on a tobacco farm in S/W Ontario for a certain period of time. Later, in Toronto, while employed in the garment industry on Spadina Rd., she was able to attend night school classes to study accounting, and continue improving her proficiency in English. Those skills, and her natural talent in design, enabled her to be hired as a bookkeeper for a high-end commercial interior design firm located in trendy Yorkville.

When she met Hugo Rooneem, a widower, her life changed yet again. After they married in 1964, she gave up her accounting career in order to help him run the H. Rooneem’s Bakery, a well-known enterprise in their own ethnic circles and also across many continents, renowned for their special sweet/sour bread. It was a bakery-delicatessen-retail outlet as well as a wholesaler, supplying stores and restaurants in the Toronto area and Collingwood. Their specialty wedding cakes were like works of art.

Hugo had been a supporter of many Estonian organizations from their inception, and Aino had played volleyball with the Kalev sports club. He and Aino were also original and long time members of the Estonian Business Club in Canada (EMK) and the Estonian Yacht Club in Canada (EYK). They hosted many of these organizations’ summer outings at their second home on Georgian Bay. There Aino was able to indulge her passion for gardening, creating numerous beautiful flower gardens on the property and even a raspberry and vegetable garden.

Hugo passed on in 2002, and after many years, Aino has now joined him. They are missed by her sister Ene-Liis, and many family and friends.