Passes Away at 86, Irma Helena Sandstrum of Rocklin, CA

Irma Helena Sandstrum, 86, passed away on October 19, 2026, in Rocklin, California, surrounded by loved ones after five years of dementia, Corbeill Funeral Homes reported. The Finnish-born nurse and midwife, who arrived in Los Angeles in December 1967 intending perhaps a short visit and instead built a 59-year American life, leaves behind two daughters, two granddaughters, and a family network that stretches from the farms of Laihia, Finland, to the suburbs of Portland, Oregon.

Born at home in Laihia on October 27, 1939, Irma entered the world three weeks before Soviet forces invaded Finland, a circumstance she often cited as her opening line: “I was born three weeks before the Russians invaded.” That invasion would define her childhood, cost her father and brother their lives, and ultimately propel her across the Atlantic to Southern California, where she would raise a family and work as a nurse for decades.

Born Three Weeks Before the Invasion

In February 1940, when Irma was just four months old, a bombing killed her 29-year-old father, Olavi Matias Vatilo, and her 3-year-old brother, Juhani. Her 28-year-old mother, Aila Maria “Maija” (Mahlamaki) Vatilo, traveled to the nearest big city, Vaasa, to train as a hairdresser, leaving Irma and her five-year-old sister, Ritva, in the care of grandparents whose farms sat just miles apart. The girls grew up surrounded by similar-aged cousins who became their first and best friends, listening to grandfathers and uncles recount the Winter War, the Continuation War, and the broader conflict of World War II. Irma recalled Russian prisoners of war, captured and conscripted to work on her Vatilo grandparents’ farm, sitting down to dinner at the table with the family and other farmworkers. Her Mahlamaki grandparents had workhorses that apparently “served” in the war twice. Few of these stories were recorded.

Passes Away at 86, Irma Helena Sandstrum of Rocklin, CA

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, she enrolled at Midwife College in Helsinki, where she formed a tight-knit group of friends. She worked as a midwife for a couple of years before entering nursing school in Helsinki, meeting more close friends there. Her Helsinki years included trips with girlfriends to Mallorca, ski trips, and countless lakeside summer cottage outings. She was on a career path to becoming a nursing instructor when she learned that her sister Ritva and brother-in-law Kalevi, who had emigrated to the U.S., were adopting a baby girl.

“Which Witch Is Which?”

Irma flew to Los Angeles in December 1967 to meet the infant, Tina Maria. It is not known how long she intended to stay in the United States, but she signed up for a class to improve her English—memorably learning the sentence “Which witch is which?”—and obtained her driver’s and nursing licenses. She began working at Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys. Sometime in 1968, while on a night out with other nurses at The Knight’s Head Inn, a bar in Panorama City, she met Peter Sandstrum. She and her friend both married men they met that night.

The couple was set to marry in May 1969, but Irma received a call from Finland that her mother, aged 54, had suffered a stroke. Her mother died while Irma was en route to Finland. Irma flew back to the U.S. on the ticket her mother would have used to come to their wedding and arrived home to a letter her mother had sent the day before she died. The letter began with “Rakas lapsi”—Finnish for “Dear child”—words that are now inscribed on Irma’s headstone.

Marriage, Moves, and Motherhood

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, California, 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, and then back to their house in Somis again. Irma and Peter later lived in Camas, Washington; Camarillo; Lincoln; and lastly, Rocklin, California. Irma hated moving and would shudder when she saw a moving van with the “Adventures in Moving” tagline.

She spent her final five years at The Villas in Rocklin, where she received care from the staff and from Sutter Roseville Hospital. Her caregiver, Scott Hegedus, brought art and music and comedy and joy to her final years. 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, Oregon; 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, Oregon, and Christina Love of Houston, Texas; Peter’s nieces Elizabeth and Chris; nephews Jon, Charles, and Matt; and many Holloway cousins. She is predeceased by her parents, her brother Juhani, and her husband of 55 years, Peter Sandstrum.

Services will be announced by Corbeill Funeral Homes.