MANCHESTER, N.H. – John “Big John” Raasumaa, 73, of 6 Third St., Rochester, N.H., died Saturday, April 23, at the Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, N.H., after a long period of failing health.

Born Jan. 2, 1932, in Lewiston, he was the son of the late Onni and Ellen (Kivimaki) Raasumaa.

He lived in Rochester since 1960, after moving to New Hampshire with his wife from South Paris, where he grew up. He proudly served in the U.S. Air Force for 14 years as a staff sergeant and administrative supervisor. As a young man, before joining the Air Force, he worked for the Maine State Game Warden Service and spent time working in a feldspar mine.

He grew up on a farm in a Finnish-American family tradition, working hard doing daily farm chores, which included cutting woodlots with his father and brothers, tending animals and gardening. He really enjoyed working with “twitch horses” pulling logs from the woods. This is where he began his great love of animals and nature.

After leaving the Air Force, he worked for Kidder Press, Davidson Rubber and finally retired from Spaulding Fibre in Gonic, N.H., where he was employed as a master machinist/millwright.

He enjoyed hunting, fishing and taking his kids fishing, and was an avid gardener. He loved to cook and was especially proud of his “Texas barbecue sauce.” He enjoyed woodworking, watching football and listening to his stereo. He also enjoyed spending time with his family and friends, and he was very proud of his granddaughters.

He was a member of the Rochester American Legion, the NRA and a lifetime member of the Farmington Fish and Game Club.

He leaves behind his wife of 47 years, Geraldine (Bean) Raasumaa, of Rochester, N.H.; two sons, Frank J. Raasumaa and his wife, Katrina, of Farmington and William J. Raasumaa of Rochester, N.H.; his daughter, Terry A. Raasumaa of Rochester, N.H.; five granddaughters, Casey, Samantha, Melissa, Amanda and Haley Raasumaa, all of Farmington; three brothers, Tarmo, Onni and Arvo Raasumaa, all of South Paris; three sisters, twin sisters, Jean Wyman and Elsie Pechnik, both of South Paris, and Alli Manninen of Norway; and several nieces and nephews. Also he leaves his beloved German shepherd, “Timber.”

He was predeceased by a brother, Taisto Raasumaa in 2004.