Family celebrates history and future at New Year

Jan. 1—CONNEAUT — The New Year gives families the opportunity to celebrate history and look to the future, which is just what the Niinisto family did this weekend.

Five generations of the Niinisto family gathered in matriarch Mildred Niinisto's home. The last time the family had gathered for a five-generation picture for the newspaper was 31 years ago when Megan Smith was an infant.

Smith was happy to bring her son Roman, 3 1/2 months, to town to experience a little family time.

"I grew up during the depression, but I don't have any traumatic memories," said Mildred Niinisto.

She remembers trading addresses with soldiers getting a travel break at the railroad station on their way to fight in World War II.

She said she had a very normal childhood because her father always had work at the Conneaut docks. Niinisto said Conneaut was "quite thriving" when she was growing up, with many stores downtown as the Great Lakes' largest iron ore receiving plant was running three shifts a day.

Niinisto said for many years Harbor Street was the main thoroughfare from the harbor to downtown until a girl was killed at the railroad crossing and the Broad Street underpass became the main road to downtown.

"By the time I got to junior high and high school the war had started," Niinisto said.

She said she was able to correspond with some of the soldiers she traded addresses with until the war ended.

"[Conneaut] was a good place to grow up. ... You were never alone," she said of the groups of boys and girls who played and grew up together.

Niinisto said she graduated from Dean Avenue Elementary School, the same school where her father matriculated. In 1967, the school closed and students went to Rowe School on the east side of town.

Smith said her great grandmother has always been a great resource for history and she hopes to pass that on to her son Roman. She said it has been exciting to have Niinisto tell of her early life during a time that is now predominantly learned by children in history books.

The five generations gathered in the home Mildred has lived in for 72 years. She said her husband spent three years building the house, and he wasn't a carpenter.

Smith said her great grandmother has taken well to Facebook and was able to maintain contact with the family during the depths of the coronavirus pandemic.

Jim Niinisto, Megan's — father, said his family has tried to attend plays and other cultural activities instead of spending inordinate amounts of time in front of the television.

Family members said they hope the family relationships will pass along the importance of history and family to Roman and his generation.

The five generations include Mildred Niinisto, 95, and Ross Niinisto, 75, both of Conneaut; Jim Niinisto 53, of Midland, Michigan, and Smith and her son of Saginaw, Michigan.