HELSINKI, Finland – Alan Emery Etzel, 72 died in hospice in Helsinki, Finland, on July 5. 2018. He had fought a long and difficult battle with cancer. He was born in Maine but lived much of his adult life in Helsinki, Finland.
Born in Waterville, Maine on April 9, 1946, he was the oldest of three children. His mother was Elizabeth (née Emery) Etzel and his father was Bernard Etzel. His father and maternal grandfather were in the retail women’s wear business and his father expanded the business into real estate.
Alan grew up in Farmington and graduated from Farmington High School, class of 1964. He received his bachelor’s degree in English from Tufts University in 1968 and did postgraduate studies at UCLA in language teaching.
He served in the Peace Corps as a teacher in French-speaking Africa at the Collège d’Enseignement Général in Laï, Chad.
He continued as a language teacher at a private school in Greece on the island of Crete and later for Northrop Grumman Corporation, and was the author of several publications regarding technical language instruction.
In 1984 he moved to Helsinki, Finland and married Liisa Ruoho, an associate professor of flute at Sibelius Academy, Finland’s music university. Together, they raised their son, Peter, in a bilingual, bicultural home. Alan founded a company that specialized in solar power systems for summer cottages. He edited and translated technical documentation for many software developers at Nokia through the 1990s and then joined a software startup as a technical writer; the firm was later acquired by Fujitsu and he continued technical writing for the same software group until retirement.
His lifelong hobby was literature. He loved to read and felt that whether it was a novel, a poem, whether it was in the original language or in translation, there were always new worlds to be explored.
He was a charter member of the Helsinki International Rotary Club and served as its president 1992-1993.
He enjoyed running and made good use of the forest paths of Helsinki’s Central Park near his home. He ran the Helsinki City Marathon five times.
He felt passionately about his adopted country, Finland, and was grateful for so many friendships and experiences. He felt fortunate to have worked with so many talented people.
He is survived by his wife, Liisa Ruoho, and their son, Peter Etzel, of Helsinki; as well as two brothers: David Etzel of Naples, Florida, and Stephen Etzel of Farmington, Maine.
His ashes were interred at the family grave at Honkanummi cemetery near Helsinki.
Prayers and Grace be with you all. May God lift you up as He has lifted Alan into his heavenly home. My heart felt condolences to the family. Pat Starbird
David and Steven I send my condolences to you both for the loss of your brother Alan Emery Etzel.May Alan RIP
So sorry, Steve and David. Alan was a classmate grammar through high school and one of my best friends. My thoughts go out to his family and all of his friends.
Alan was a real good man and Rotarian, visiting the Farmington Rotary Club during his visits to Maine.
Although we were a couple years apart I knew Alan growing up in Farmington. We reconnected on social media a while ago and had a long exchange of our memories of being kids when you could go out to Clearwater and not lock your doors for the weekend. Alan was a true gentleman and was one of the “good guys” in my view. My condolence to his family and friends. We shall miss him
Ron Calef