BRUNO ESAIAS SEPPALA

After a lengthy battle with cancer, Bruno Esaias Seppala, 79, of Fort Frances, Ont., passed away at La Verendrye General Hospital here Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2001.
Bruno was born July 24, 1922 in Sudbury, Ont. He attended the Sudbury Mining and Technical School and worked for Inco for three-and-a-half years. After spending a year in the armed services, he attended the University of New Brunswick to become a forester.
He married his wife, Kerttu, in 1946.
After receiving his forester’s degree in 1948, he started to work for the O&M, living in logging camps for several years before settling in Fort Frances. In 1964, he became the woods production manager, followed in 1972 by woods manager.
In 1974, he moved to Thompson, Man., working for the Manitoba Department of Northern Affairs. In 1978, he began an eight-year term, in Winnipeg, with the Manitoba Department of Mines, Natural Resources and Environment as an industry relations and development forester.
Upon retiring in 1986, he returned to Fort Frances, where he had a summer home.
Bruno was a member of the Fort Frances Kiwanis Club, the Thompson Rotary Club, the Fort Frances Planning Advisory Committee, the Fort Frances Economic Development Advisory committee, and the Natural Resources Local Community Advisory Committee.
He also was a registered professional forester, providing consulting services for several companies after his formal retirement.
Bruno loved sailing, dancing, cross-country and downhill skiing, and was on his university swimming and ski teams. In his later years, he even learned to line dance.
He was predeceased by his parents, Jack and Ida Seppala; his in-laws, Vaino and Katri Kuikka; an infant son, Eric Matthew; and his wife, Kerttu Kyllikki (‘Gert’).
Bruno is survived by his three daughters, Kirsten and husband, Lee Stinson, of Fort Frances, Ont., Kathryn and husband, Greg MacCoubrey, of Crystal Lake, Ill., and Lisa and husband, Rene Bourgeois, of Coquitlam, B.C.
Also surviving are his five grandchildren, Christopher and Jonathan Stinson, and Mary, Elin, and Karl MacCoubrey; and his special friend and companion, Laural Dahl.
A memorial service was held Friday, Oct. 12, 2001 at 1 p.m. at the Zion Lutheran Church, with Pastor Brian Keffer officiating.
In memoriam donations may be directed to the Canadian Cancer Society, Box 444, Fort Frances, Ont., P9A 3M8, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, 920 Frenette Ave., Fort Frances, Ont., P9A 3N4, the Zion Lutheran Church, 1105 Scott St., Fort Frances, Ont., or the Continuing Care Unit, 110 Victoria Ave., Fort Frances, Ont., P9A 2B7.