Army Badge
  • Name: Urho Wilhelm Toivonen
  • Location of Birth: Kristinestad, Finland
  • Date of Birth: November 3, 1916
  • Date of Death: August 27, 2004
  • Parents: John Toivonen & Amelia (Luoma) Toivonen
  • High School and Class:
  • College:
  • Highest Rank:
  • Branch: Army
  • Other Branch:
  • Date Sworn In: February 22, 1943
  • Place Sworn In:
  • Date of Discharge: November 19, 1945
  • Place of Discharge:
  • Military Awards:

  • Military Highlights:
    WW II Draft Registration Cards – 10/16/1940 – 03/31/1947
    State: Minnesota
    Name: Urho Wilhelm Toivonen
    Race: White
    Age: 23
    Birth Date: November 3, 1916
    Birth Place: Kristinestad, Finland
    Residence Place: R.F.D. No. 1, Bovey, Itasca, Minnesota
    Registration Date: October 16, 1940
    Employer: None
    Weight: 165
    Height: 5-10
    Complexion: Light
    Eye Color: Hazel
    Hair Color: Blonde
    Other characteristic: Slightly cross eyed
    Next of Kin: Mrs. Anselm Anderson, sister, R.F.D. No. 1, Bovey, Itasca, Minnesota

    Newspaper article: Bovey Press, Bovey, Minnesota - April 28, 1944 - McClellan Field, Calif., April 11, 1944 - Dear Members Bovey Service Club: Well I guess it's about time I wrote you and thanked you for all of the things you have sent me. I want to thank you for the Christmas package, the many letters, and also the Bovey Press which I get every week. I certainly enjoy them all, because it's about the only way I have of knowing what goes on back in Bovey. I received a very nice Easter letter from Mary L. Koski, and I wish you would thank her for me. I have been here for just about a year now, and even tho it's very nice here and I have lots of friends, I still wish I was back in Minnesota. Well, it's time to go to chow and that's one place I never miss, so I guess I'd better close. Many thanks again. Yours truly, Urho Toivonen."

    Urho served in the Army in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theatre with the 94th Air Depot Group during World War II.

  • Wars Involved:
    World War II

  • MIA / POW:

  • Civilian Life:
    Urho Toivonen grew up and attended schools in Finland and imigrated to the United States in 1940, living in the Trout Lake area until moving to Grand Rapids in 1960. Urho married Mildred King in 1945 in Liverpool, England. He had been a foreman for the Cleveland Cliffs Mining Company, retiring in 1979 with 17 1/2 years of service. He was a member of the Grand Rapids VFW Post #1720 and the Grand Rapids American Legion Post #60.

    Urho died in Grand Rapids, Minnesota and is buried in the Trout Lake Community Cemetery, Bovey, Minnesota (Block 13). He is survived by his wife, Mildred; two sons, Roy (Val) Toivonen, and Erik (Dorothy) Toivonen; two daughters, Maria (Tom) Dunstan, and Paula (Jim) Foster; five grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews in the United States and Finland. He was preceded in death by his parents, John and Amelia Toivonen; four brothers, Onni, Sulho, and Toivo Toivonen, and Eino Luoma; and two sisters, Helga Toivonen and Hilma Anderson.

  • Tribal Affiliation(s):

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