Sukanen Cemetery

Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village and Museum

Tomi Jannus Alankola aka Tom Sukanen

Born 23 September 1878, Kurjenkyla, Vaasa, Finland

Died 23 April 1943 North Battleford, Sask, Canada

In a letter to his sister, Tom had prophetically written "Four times there will be men who will try to raise and assemble this ship. Three times they will fail, but a fourth man will succeed. He will start the raising of my ship and it will sail across the prairies at speeds unheard of in this day and age, and will disappear in a mighty roar. My ship will go up and I shall rest in peace."

The "fourth man" was "Moon" Mullin who eventually arranged for the renovation of the ship and its move, twenty-nine years after Tom's prediction, by flatbed truck to what has become the Sukanen Ship and Pioneer Village Museum (open May to October, phone 306-693-7315). The remains of Tom were moved from an unmarked grave to the small chapel next to the ship, to fulfill the last words in Tom's prophesy.

Scandinavian Press, Issue 4, 2001