CAMDEN — Irene Terttu Vaino, beloved wife of Rowland S. Whittet, passed away peacefully into the company of her Savior on February 16, 2020.

She was born to respected school teachers Niilo and Darja Kiirikki in Salmi, Finland in 1929. World War II forced her family westward from their Karelian home.

Irene met and married civil engineer and Finnish army veteran Edmund Vaino of Tartu, Estonia in the year 1950 in Stockholm, Sweden. Both of Irene’s parents died unexpectedly in 1951. Irene, then 21, took her three oldest siblings under her wing. In

1958, she emigrated with her husband and young son, Jaan, to New York. Their daughter Helene was born soon thereafter. Irene’s sister Kaija and brother Niilo soon followed the Vainos to the United States.

The Vaino family resided in the Quincy, Massachusetts Finnish Community for many years. The family acquired property on St. George Road in South Thomaston, where they summered. Irene made it her home after Edmund’s death in 1991.

Irene wed her sweetheart, Rowland “Steve” Whittet, in May, 2019 and made her home with him in Thomaston.

Irene was a beloved member of Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Rockland.

Irene is survived by her loving husband, Rowland S. Whittet; son, Jaan Vaino of New York; daughter, Helene Groarke of North Carolina; grandsons, Paul Bishop and David Vaino; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Private interment will be at Wiley’s Corner Cemetery, St. George. A reception celebrating her life will be held Friday, August 20, 2021,  from 4 to 6 p.m., at Aldersgate United Methodist Church, Rockland.

To share a condolence with Irene’s family, please visit their Book of Memories at www.bchfh.com.

Arrangements are in the care of Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home, 110 Limerock Street, Rockland.