Mimmu Sloan prepares to return to Finland

Mimmu Sloan (Courtesy photo)

“You can never give more than you get.”

Such are the words by which Mimmu Sloan lives her life. In these days of entitlement and material acquisition, hers is a rare and inspiring philosophy, one that has sparked a dedication to serving others throughout her 34 years in Harvard. Indeed, when Mimmu and her husband Jim move to Finland at the end of January, it will be impossible to believe that Harvard could have given Mimmu more than she has given to us.

Mimmu was born in Finland and grew up in a large family, where she was the second of five and the oldest girl. The family didn’t have a lot and the kids all learned to share, a lesson that stayed with her throughout her life. Mimmu is probably best known in town for her role in Harvard Help, a volunteer organization dedicated to helping people in need, but she has also served as president of the Village Nursery School, as well as a member of the school’s board, and for two years was the president of the Harvard PTA. She served in American Field Service, a student foreign exchange program, for 11 years, including a stint as president.

However, Mimmu has been more than a town volunteer. Over the years her home on Fairbank Street has been a haven for troubled kids and children whose parents could not or would not provide for them. Lots of teenagers found it easier to talk to Mimmu than to their own parents. As one boy put it, “I wanted to live with you but my mother wouldn’t let me.”

Asked how many children she and Jim have, Mimmu replies that they have five “homemade” kids—“how can you call them biological? All kids are biological.”

Along with the “homemades,” 11 more children joined the family. According to Mimmu, her kids brought home other kids the way some bring in dogs and cats. She and Jim took in her younger sister’s children; friends in Finland sent their children over to stay; and during the early ’80s the Sloans took in two Cambodian girls. Mimmu said that, as a 6-year-old, the youngest “homemade” had no idea that some of the children were not her actual siblings. Mimmu tells the story of the morning Jim came down to breakfast, looked around at the 16 faces gathered around the table, and said, “How many of you actually live here?”

As a young woman in Finland Mimmu became a pediatric nurse, and came to America for a year to do medical research. Here she met Jim, who was attending MIT. They married and had one child, who became bothered by the air quality in Boston, prompting them to look for a healthier place to live. They decided to investigate Harvard, a “safe-looking” town where they had been to pick apples. The house on Fairbank Street was the only one they looked at where Jim, who is well over six feet tall, felt he could stretch out. Periodically, they raised the idea of finding a larger house, but the family council always voted for more kids instead of a bigger house.

Mimmu is used to welcoming people into her home. One evening a taxi pulled up in front of the house and a man came up the walk with his suitcase. Jim wasn’t home at the time, and Mimmu assumed this was some friend of his. The man said he was tired, so she sent him up to the guest room. The next morning, having become a bit wary, she asked him whose house he thought he was in. He replied that he had come to visit his old army buddy, Sam Dickson—one house down from the Sloans.

During her time in Harvard, Mimmu has had a reputation as someone people could turn to in need. She claims to never sleep much, telling friends and neighbors, “Call me anytime.” Now and then a new mother or an elderly neighbor has taken her up on this offer. A woman having her 10th child once called on Mimmu to watch the other nine. Another time, in the early morning hours, a neighbor came to Mimmu’s door in her nightgown, disoriented and worried that she had forgotten to tell her something. Mimmu reassured her friend, put her arm around her, and walked her home—in her nightgown.

Mimmu never had a license in Finland, but once in Harvard, it seemed all she did was drive! Her name soon became synonymous with Harvard Help, and her time with the organization left her with many fond memories of the clients she helped. Elvira Scorgie was a favorite; they spoke Swedish to each other, even though neither of them knew many words. On Wednesdays she used to take Elvira and two other women shopping, and loved listening to their stories. Another elderly woman liked to buy her shoes in Boston, so Mimmu would drive her into the city and on the way back stop at Howard Johnson’s for lunch. She remembers another woman whom she took to a regular hair appointment in Concord. Mimmu said she is gratified that Harvard Help could enable these people to live as they really wanted to, with the small pleasures that were so important to them. She said she believes we can learn something from everyone, and that the elderly, in particular, give us a certain perspective on life.

The Sloan’s youngest child went to Parker School and Mimmu became the official school mom, devoting hours to this role. It is a school tradition to give each senior a personalized painted chair and at her daughter’s graduation, Mimmu received a chair, too. “Nothing is as great as this chair,” she says.

Mimmu spent many years making the Fairbank house into a home; now she is making it into a house again. Mimmu’s eyes fill up when she talks about leaving Harvard. She said that her move to Finland is prompted largely by the fact that four out of the five “homemades” are living there, having gone over to attend graduate school, then meeting spouses and settling down to raise families. The house in Finland, an hour and a half north of Helsinki, is all on one floor, with an indoor swimming pool and exercise room. Mimmu has had an everyday room in the house turned into a large dining room, because this will always be the heart of Mimmu’s home. She and Jim are taking 10,000 books, which will fit perfectly along the sides of a hallway in the new place.

“It’s big,” says Mimmu, “because we always have people coming.”

All of her kids have kept in touch, and she now has 26 grandchildren.

Fifty people are expected next Christmas.