Toomas Pääsuke

Toomas Pääsuke was born in Estonia and emigrated to Canada in 1948. Several visits to relatives in Estonia in the 1980's resulted in an interest in ecological and cultural movements there. As a result he renewed ties with the Estonian immigrant community in Canada. While working in the Montreal area he joined the executive of the Montreal branch of the Estonian Heritage Society. The society, part of the independence movement in Estonia, was recovering the history and the traditional culture of Estonia which was revised and repressed during the Soviet occupation. Arriving in St. Albert in 1991, he joined the Edmonton Estonian Society, serving on the executive. He was the co-ordinator for the Estonian Centennial at Stettler in 1999. He has been on the board of the Alberta Estonian Heritage Society since its inception. Toomas now lives in Canmore where he enjoys summer and winter mountain activities and sings with the Bow Valley Chorus.