Thomas Expired's Obituary
Thomas (81), a native of Finland and an active proponent of Finnish-American culture, died July 17, 2010 at his home in Charlestown, R.I., where he resided since his retirement in 1998. He was the husband of Mirja (Ekman) Hanslin.
Mr. Hanslin was born Oct. 17, 1928, in Helsinki, Finland, the son of Emil and Aino (Anttila) Hanslin. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1954 and settled his family in Fitchburg, MA, where he founded Hanslin Travel & Realty Service in 1962, and became actively engaged in the Finnish-American community of greater Fitchburg, promoting Finnish culture, commerce and tourism. Mr. Hanslin purchased Leeman Travel in New York City in 1968 to expand his Finnish tourism business and later moved to New York to build Hanslin Travel and Holiday Tours of America into one of the largest promoters of Finnish tourism in the U.S. In the 1990s, Paul and his wife Mirja permanently settled in Charlestown, R.I. and founded and operated Country Corner Restaurant in Charlestown, R.I. for several years.
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