Irma Helena (Vatilo-Jouppi) Sandstrum was born at home, in Laihia, Finland on October 27, 1939, to Aila Maria “Maija” (Mahlamaki) and Olavi Matias Vatilo, both of Laihia. “I was born three weeks before the Russians invaded,” was often Irma’s opening line.

Irma’s early years were marked by war (The Winter War, The Continuation War, just regular old WWII) but also filled with joy and surrounded by family. Her 29-year-old father and 3-year-old brother, Juhani, were killed in a bombing in February 1940. She and her five-year-old sister, Ritva, were cared for by family, while their 28-year-old mother traveled to the nearest big city, Vaasa, to train as a hairdresser. With grandparents whose farms were just miles apart, the girls were rich in similar-aged cousins, who were their first and best friends. Their mother remarried when Irma was nine, and Irma considered this man, Ahti Jouppi, her dad.

Irma told many stories of sitting around with her grandfathers and uncles, listening to their remembrances from the war. She recalled the Russian prisoners of war, captured and conscripted to work on her Vatilo grandparents’ farm, who ate dinner at the table with the family and the other farmworkers. Her Mahlamaki grandparents had workhorses who apparently “served” in the war twice. Few of these stories are recorded.

Irma attended school in Laihia and remained in contact with classmates until about ten years ago when dementia took her ability to exchange letters and talk on the phone. After high school, Irma went to Midwife College in Helsinki, where she had a tight-knit group of friends. Irma worked as a midwife for a couple years before going on to nursing school in Helsinki, where she met more close friends. Irma’s Helsinki years included trips with girlfriends to Mallorca, ski trips, and countless lakeside summer cottage outings. Irma was on a career path to becoming a nursing instructor, when she got the news that her sister Ritva and brother-in-law, Kalevi, who had emigrated to the U.S., were adopting a baby girl.

In December of 1967, Irma flew to Los Angeles to meet this baby, Tina Maria. It’s not known how long she intended to stay in the U.S., but she signed up for a class to improve her English (“Which witch is which?” is one English sentence she learned in that class and quoted often). She got her driver’s and nursing licenses, started work at Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys, and sometime in 1968 she met Peter Sandstrum at The Knight’s Head Inn, a bar in Panorama City, while on a night out with some other nurses. She and her friend both married men they met that night.

Irma and Peter were set to get married in May of 1969, when Irma got a call from Finland that her mother, aged 54, had had a stroke. She died while Irma was en route to Finland. Irma flew back to the U.S. later, on the ticket her mom would have used to come to their wedding and arrived home to a letter her mom had sent the day before she died. The letter began with “Rakas lapsi” – Finnish for “Dear child” - which is on Irma’s headstone.

Irma and Peter were married at a little Lutheran church outside Las Vegas on July 7, 1969. She had two daughters, Maria Helena and Anna-Lisa, at Valley Presbyterian, likely giving the attending physician instructions on how to properly deliver a baby. The family moved from Simi Valley, to Somis, CA, and then in 1979 to Heusenstamm, West Germany, which Irma loved! They made frequent trips to Finland and drove their little company-issued car all over Western Europe. In 1982 they moved back to the states, to Orange County (insert sad trombone), and then back to their house in Somis again. Irma and Peter later lived in Camas, WA; and then Camarillo, Lincoln, and lastly, Rocklin, CA. Irma hated moving and would shudder when she saw a moving van with the “Adventures in Moving” tagline.

Irma, 86, passed away on October 19, 2026, in Rocklin, CA, surrounded by loved ones. She is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Maria and Hector Romero of Rocklin; and Anna-Lisa Sandstrum and Terry Sullivan of Portland, OR; two granddaughters, Bella and Annais Romero; her older sister and brother-in-law, Ritva and Kalevi Makikahma; her beloved niece and her husband, Tina and Gary Smith, all of Rocklin; and their children and their spouses; her beloved cousins in Finland; her sisters-in-law, Rose Marie "Jan" Sandstrum of West Linn, OR, and Christina Love of Houston, TX; Peter’s nieces Elizabeth and Chris; nephews Jon, Charles, and Matt; and also by many Holloway cousins. She is predeceased by her parents; and her brother, Juhani, and her very silly husband of 55 years, Peter Sandstrum.

Thank you to everyone at Sutter Roseville Hospital for their care. Thank you to the staff at The Villas in Rocklin, where Irma spent the last five years. And a very special thank you to Scott Hegedus, Irma’s caregiver, who brought art and music and comedy and joy to her final years.