Obituary of ILME SOLOM

ILME SOLOM (September 4, 1922, Puhja, Estonia – May 14, 2018, St. Paul, MN, USA). Ilme Solom was born in Estonia in a very eventful period of history…….just a few years after Estonia had become a newly independent nation. Her parents, Richard (pharmacist) and Minna (medical student), had married while students at the University of Tartu in 1915 and in 1918 they bought a pharmacy next to the historic Puhja church. The family had three children: brother Jaan (1916-1988), Ilme herself (1922-2018) and sister Heldi (1931- ). Ilme and Jaan chose to study pharmacy at the University of Tartu, with the idea of joining the family pharmacy business after they graduated, while younger sister Heldi later became a music teacher at the famous Heino Elleri music school. The family was very close-knit and photos from the 1930s show huge family gatherings with cousins, aunts and uncles gathering from neighboring towns for family events. During this same time period, there was a huge movement to Estonianize surnames and Ilme’s family surname was changed from Fischmann to Helmeste in 1935. In 1943, Ilme married Aleksander Kikerpill, also a University of Tartu graduate. However, World War 2 had engulfed the country and her new husband fell in battle in early 1945 while defending the country from Russian invasion. Estonia experienced both Russian and German invasions, and as early as 1941 the Russian government started to deport and decapitate leaders of prominence in Estonia. Since Ilme came from a prominent family, this included many of Ilme’s closest relatives; Ilme’s sister has written her memories of 1941 when the whole family had to go into hiding because they had been forewarned that Ilme’s father was on the deportation list…..the Russians had labelled him suitable for deportation because he owned two houses and had hired an assistant in his pharmacy….. this was the Stalin-era criteria for deporting people. Ilme was only 19 years old at the time. After moving to the USA in 1949, Ilme married Victor Solom (also of Estonian heritage) and took the surname Solom. Besides her childhood Estonia, Ilme’s favorite place was always her home in St. Paul, Minnesota, within walking distance of Lake Phalen. Ilme is survived by sister Heldi Kuus, niece Daiga Helmeste and nephew Jüri Kuus (Jr.), as well as by the children of her nephews (Richard, Andres) and niece (Daiga): Michael, John, Christopher, Elerin, Jaano and his children Karl and Kati (as well as their spouses). Ilme had no children. Ashes for Ilme and husband Victor Solom (1913-1998) will be placed at Forest Lawn Cemetery (St. Paul, MN).