A Humorous and Inventive Teacher

Pirkko Marjatta Pokela, a teacher remembered for her sense of humor and inventive spirit, passed away in Helsinki on May 28, 2026, at the age of 80. Born in Haapavesi on October 18, 1945, she was the eldest of seven children. Pokela first encountered her future husband, Olli, in elementary school in the early 1950s, forming an immediate connection. Their bond remained exceptionally strong for nearly seven decades, a union that began with a small, accidental pencil mark on Olli's hand. After marrying in 1966 while both studied to become teachers in Oulu, they welcomed two daughters, Anna and Eeva. The family moved to Germany and then Sweden in the 1970s before settling in Helsinki. Both Pirkko and Olli began working at the German School in Helsinki (DSH), with their daughters also becoming students there. A third daughter, Aino, was born in 1982. Pokela furthered her career by training as a study counselor and taught history, social studies, and Finnish as a foreign language. At DSH, she was known as a pleasant and humorous teacher whose unconventional methods, such as using a bowl of mämmi to teach Finnish, even garnered attention in a German newspaper, Die Zeit. Her lifelong fascination with the Finnish language, literature, wordplay, and crosswords was matched by her insatiable curiosity about people and subjects, always expressed with kindness and love. She playfully adopted the grandmother name 'Viiri' to complement Olli's 'Vaari.' Pokela's unconditional love extended to her daughters, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and numerous family pets. She took immense pride in her family. After suffering a stroke in the fall of 2024, she gained precious extra time with her loved ones, which concluded in the spring of 2026. Her urn will be interred in Haapavesi on June 25, which would have been her and Olli's 60th wedding anniversary.

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The connection was immediate, and Pirkko marked her own by accidentally poking Olli in the hand with a pencil.