Oskari Juhonpoika Kuoppala was born in Sara, Finland, on February 13, 1873. Before leaving Finland at the age of 30, he married Emelia Haapa, and established a family. It is possible that they moved to "Vierikko mäkitupa" (a small house without fields) in Koivisto, near Sara, and took the Vierikko family name. They had three children between 1897 and 1901: Johannes, Svante, and Toivo Viljami. In 1903, Oskar headed to Canada ahead of his family to establish a homestead, arriving eventually in the Lakehead region. Emelia and their three boys joined him in 1910, and 5 more children were born to the family (known as "Wierikko" in North America) in Sunshine: Aina, Hulda, Aili, Saimi and Albert. Emelia passed away in 1934, and Oskar in 1941 (both are burried in the Sunshine cemetery), but descendants of the Wierikko family still live in the Thunder Bay area and spread across Canada.
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