Veikko Loponen passed away June 10th, 2022 in his 80th year. He will be greatly missed by son Mark, daughter-in-law Julie, “son son” Markus and daughter Liisa. Beloved “older younger” brother to Mirja Herbertz and big bro to the late Jorma Loponen. He will be missed by niece Minna, her wife Heidi, goddaughter and niece Sandra and nephew Richard. “GUV” to Leila and Reed. Brother-in-law to Pirkko and the late Karl. Husband of 25 years to the late Shelley Loponen, brother in law to Margaret, the late Christine, Jacquie and Peter and uncle of Stephen, Ken, Mark, John and Chris. Fondly remembered by the Putoczki family.
On August 6, 1941 in Lahti, Finland, Veikko was born to mother Signe, while his father Eero was away fighting in the Continuation War. Due to the war, as a child he and sister Mirja spent several summers in Denmark with a host family. He grew up in Helsinki where his parents became building caretakers and he had fond memories of many adventures around the city with brother Jorma. A collection of classic books supplied to kids in Finland would feed a lifelong passion for reading and writing. Veikko trained as a cabinetmaker and electrician and completed his military service before emigrating to Canada, as his father and sister had done.
He landed in Toronto in 1960 , speaking no English and after being helped to settle in by his sister, found work as a helper on a recycling truck and took language classes at night. He worked hard at mastering English and started scribbling away at what would be his future novels. Veikko worked his way to being a delivery driver and found the independence and variety of the job suited him well. In his spare time he studied karate and earned his private pilot’s license. He met Shelley at a dance and they wed in 1970.
After welcoming son Mark they decided they wanted a change from big city life and moved to North Bay. They welcomed daughter Liisa shortly before moving to Redbridge where they would make their home for almost 20 years. Veikko worked very hard to support his family and during his time off liked exploring nature, taking the family on camping trips, canoeing, cross country skiing and for bush buggy rides.
The urge to write never left though and some Sundays were filled with epic naps after a late evening of getting the stories filling his thoughts down onto paper. He did his best to juggle his solitary and his social side, spending time as a cub scouts leader, soccer coach and volunteer firefighter and also valuing his time reading giant history books, woodworking, target shooting and watching action movies.
Becoming a long haul truck driver was a profession he enjoyed but it also meant long hours and time away from home and it took a toll on his physical and mental health. After a period of difficulty he slowly worked his way back to a new normal, taking further schooling and finding new passions in photography and sailing. He returned to work and became more focused on his writing. He relocated to Kitchener and continued to work as a truck driver and write in his down time. Over the years he self-published 11 novels and short story collections.
His love of the open road took him on three major road trips which were very treasured experiences. One with Mark to Texas, one throughout the western part of the U.S and the other to Alaska. Always picking up new hobbies, he took up sewing his own colorful clothing, learned violin, volunteered at the humane society (cat person) and was a regular at the community center pool hall. Veikko took great joy in becoming “Pop Pop” to Markus in 2016 and enjoyed his stays at their home where he encouraged a love of reading and puzzles and supervised goings on from his napping chair. He appreciated the warm welcome, kindness and conversation of Julie and her extended family.
Adamantly an individual and a self-professed loner, Veikko nevertheless deeply appreciated those who took the time and effort to connect with him. He will be remembered for his intensity, passion for pontificating, wide ranging interests, determination and willingness to ham it up to get a laugh.
If desired, donations can be made to his favored charitable organizations, Operation Smile and St. Mary’s General Hospital Foundation.